I 


UC-NRLF 


27M 


HE  LIFE  OF  PRAISE 


CARRIE  JUDD  MONTGOMERY 


GIFT   ©F 

. 


>  II        I     )    )         , 

>  111.  I 

1 

I    I 


1        >    I  I  I 


I       II 


THE  LIFE  OF  PRAISE 


BY 


CARRIE  JUDD  -MONTGOMERY 


Office  of 

TRIUMPHS   OF   FAITH 
Beulah  Heights 
Oakland,     Calif. 


THE  LIFE  OF  PRAISE 


Fourth  Edition 


The  articles  in  this  book  were  brought 
out  originally  as  editorials  in  Mrs. 
Montgomery's  monthly  journal,  "Tri- 
umphs of  Faith."  They  were  after- 
wards compiled  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson 
of  New  York,  and  published  by  him  in 
a  volume  of  the  Alliance  Colportage  Li- 
brary. We  have  disposed  of  the  third 
edition,  and  are  now  bringing  out  this 
fourth  edition,  as  so  many  have  received 
help  from  this  little  volume.  Price  35 
cents. 


*   , 


'    '  , 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 
The  Praise  of  Faith 7 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Sacrifice  of  Praise 21 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  Garment  of  Praise 30 

CHAPTER   IV. 
The  Courage  of  Faith 42 

CHAPTER   V. 
Songs  of  Deliverance 49 

CHAPTER   VI. 
'  'Believe  That  Ye  Receive' ' 55 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Believing  and   Receiving 63 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
"Only  Believe' '    74 

CHAPTER   IX. 
A  Life  on   Wings  .  / 80 

CHAPTER   X. 
Praying  and  Not  Fainting 88 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Great  Faith  and  Little  Faith 94 

CHAPTER   XII. 
The  Desires  O'f  Thine  Heart 104 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Comfort  and  Deliverance Ill 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Victory   Through   Defeat 122 

CHAPTER   XV. 
Hearkening  Diligently 137 

Praise  at   Midnight    (Poem) 143 


50?4r>8 


•  •':'-.:  «*:  •••••: :    *  •"• 
:.\::.'::-':'..-'  '::..:.•••••.• 


THE  PRAISE  OF  FAITH 


HE  keynote  of  my  message  this  after- 
noon is  found  in  II.  Chron.  xx.  15. 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  you,  Be 

*/  / 

not  afraid  nor  dismayed  by  reason  of  this 
great  multitude,  for  the  battle  is  not  yours, 
but  God's.'  That  is  a  wonderfully  good 
reason  for  not  being  afraid.  If  we  would 
only  stop  oftener  to  think  of  the  reason  for 
not  being  afraid.  If  we  would  only  stop 
oftener  to  think  of  the  reason  for  courage 
and  confidence  we  would  never  get  faint- 
hearted in  the  fight,  would  we  ?  Jesus  said 
to  Jairus,  "Fear  not,  only  believe.'  The 
Bible  is  full  of  commands  and  encourage- 
ments to  cease  from  our  timidity.  Our 
hearts  are  easily  panic  stricken,  but  God 
tells  us  to  be  strong  and  very  courageous. 
Here  we  have  it  again  in  the  seventeenth 
verse,  "Ye  shall  not  need  to  fight  in  this 
battle ;  set  yourselves,  stand  ye  still,  and 


8  ' 


.'•••       .».«•«       • 

THE   LIFE   OP   PRAISE 


see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  with  you.  Fear 
not  nor  be  dismayed ;  tomorrow  go  out 
against  them,  for  the  Lord  will  be  with 
you.'  This  is  the  secret  of  strength.  "The 
Lord  with  us/  and  the  battle  being  His, 
not  ours,  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  set 
it  in  array  the  very  best  we  can  and  then 
watch  undismayed  to  see  Him  work  out  the 
victorv  from  seeming  defeat.  When  a 

»/ 

great  multitude  of  temptations  and  difficul- 
ties rise  up  against  us,  we  are  too  apt  to  be 
deluded  by  the  devil  into  looking  at  them, 
;is  Peter  looked  at  the  waves,  instead  of 
keeping  our  eyes  on  Jesus.  We  can  only  eii- 
dnre  by  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible,  by 
looking  "not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,' 
but  at  those  that  are  unseen  and  eternal. 

When  Elisha's  young  man  beheld  the 
hosts  of  Syria  encompassing  Dothan  with 
horses  and  chariots,  a  mighty  force  sent 
out  with  special  charge  to  capture  the 
prophet,  lie  said,  'Alas,  my  master,  what 
shall  \ve  do?'  '  Kenr  not,'  rings  out  the 
prophet's  reply,  '  l<Var  not,  for  they  that 


THE   PRAISE   OF  FAITH  9 

be  with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be 
with  them.'  "And  the  Lord  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  young  man'  to  behold  things 
invisible  and  eternal,  "and  behold  the 
mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots 
of  fire  around  about  Elisha.' 

*Is  the  enemy  encamped  all  round  about 
you,  leaving  no  loophole  of  escape  from 
trouble?  Lift  your  heads  and  rejoice! 
Your  Redeemer  is  strong.  You  are  weak, 
'tis  true,  but  what  of  that?  Ye  shall  not 
need  to  fight  in  this  battle.  ' '  Fear  not ; 
be  not  dismayed.'  Some  of  you  have 
been  fighting  your  own  battles  all  the 
week  instead  of  trusting  them  to  Jehovah. 
Will  you  not  yield  the  struggle  and  trust? 
"For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel :  In  returning  and  rest  shall 
ye  be  saved,  in  quietness  and  confidence 
shall  be  your  strength.' 

Isn't  that  easier  than  striving  and 
struggling  until  you  are  exhausted  soul  and 
body,  nerves  on  edge,  and  face  shadowed 
with  dark  lines  of  care  and  pain  and  per- 


10  THE  LIFE   OP   PRAISE 

plexity  ?  ' '  Look  unto  Me  and  be  ye  saved, 
all  ye  ends  of  the  earth.'  Isn't  that  easier? 

Set  your  battle  in  array,  then  stand  still 
and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord !  Oh, 
when  will  we  learn  to  cease  from  our  own 
works  and  let  Jesus  do  it  all,  that  He  may 
have  all  the  glory? 

"And  all  Judah  fell  before  the  Lord, 
worshipping  the  Lord.' 

When  God  gives  us  in  these  days,  such 
a  command  as  that,  to  stand  still  and  see 
His  salvation,  we  do  not  always  bow7  our 
heads  in  worship.  Some  of  us  are  apt  to 
talk  back  to  Him.  We  say,  "Surely,  Lord, 
this  thing  and  that  thing  can't  take  care 
of  itself;  I  must  worry  it  through  some- 
how/ We  feel  as  though  we  are  very 
necessary  and  nothing  is  going  to  be  done 
if  we  keep  still.  Of  course,  things  can't 
take  care  of  themselves,  but  if  yoi\  will 
only  cast  the  care  on  Him,  He  will  take 
care  of  them  and  of  you,  too. 

But  instead  of  doing  it  wre  are  always 
so  full  of  reasons  and  arguments  to  justi- 


THE   PRAISE   OF  FAITH  11 

±'y  ourselves.  God  knows  what  foolish 
creatures  we  are,  wanting  to  reason  every 
step  of  the  way,  so  He  accommodates  Him- 
self to  our  weakness,  and  reasons  w4th  us, 
"Casting  all  your  care  upon  Him,  because 
He  careth  for  you.'  What  a  sweet  rea- 
son ! 

But  some  of  us  have  got  past  that  rea- 
soning stage.  We  have  proved  Him  so 
often,  and  come  by  long  intimacy  to  un- 
derstand Him  so  well,  that  He  does  not 
need  to  give  us  any  more  reasons  or  ex- 
planations. We  need  only  the  faintest 
intimation  of  His  wishes  to  be  ready  to 
obey,  and  perfectly  willing  to  trust  Him 
to  take  care  of  the  results. 

After  worshipping  the  Lord,  Judah 
stood  up  to  praise  the  Lord,  praising  Him 
by  faith  before  their  eyes  had  seen  the 
victory,  and  they  praised  Him  with  a  loud 
voice. 

Early  in  the  morning  King  Jehoshaphat 
leads  out  his  army  into  the  wilderness 
of  Tekoa,  where  to  all  human  foresight 


12  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

certain  destruction  awaited  them,  but  he 
encouraged  them  with  his  own  sublime 
faith:  "Believe  in  the  Lord  your  God,  so 
shall  ye  be  established ;  believe  His  pro- 
phets, so  shall  ye  prosper.' 

And  he  appoints  singers  to  the  Lord 
there  in  the  desert,  in  the  face  of  a  foe 
far  superior  to  his  army  in  numbers ;  sing- 
ers to  praise  the  beauty  of  holiness  and  to 
say,  "Praise  the  Lord  for  His  mercy  en- 
dureth  forever.' 

"Believe,"  "Only  Believe."  Some  of 
you  tell  me  you  are  so  sick  of  hearing  that 
word,  "believe.'  You  don't  know  how  to 
believe.  You  don't  understand  what 
Christian  teachers  mean  by  faith,  and  you 
wish  they  would  get  some  easier  word. 
Well,  I  will  give  you  an  easier  one,  'Let 
go.'  It  means  just  the  same  thing.  Can 
you  understand  "Let  go?'  Drop  into  the 
mother  arms  of  God,  that  are  always  out- 
stretched to  take  you.  As  th?  eagle  mother 
spreads  her  broad  pinions  below  the  nest 
to  catch  the  young  eaglets  as  they  drop  out 


THE   PRAISE   OF   FAITH  13 

and  try  to  fly,  so  the  wideness  of  God's 
mercy  is  pledged  to  catch  you  up,  and  to 
hold  you,  and  keep  you  whenever  you  will 
let  go  of  all  these  other  things  you  are  hold- 
ing on  to,  and  will  trust  Him  alone  and  en- 
tirely. 

I  seem  to  see  that  little  handful  of  an 
army  marching  out,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
to  meet  the  mighty  host  of  the  enemy. 
What  weapons  of  war  will  they  use  ?  Why 
they  have  but  one.  and  that  is  "praise,'' 
victory  by  faith  in  God. 

They  put  singers  in  front  to  sound 
God's  praises  aloud,  as  they  march  along. 
These  very  notes  of  victory  begin  to  sow 
seeds  of  panic  and  fear  in  the  enemy's 
hearts.  Wonderful  salvation  of  God !  Who 
would  not  be  willing  to  stand  still  from 
his  own  works  to  see  it?  His  name  shall 
be  called  Wonderful. 

The  singers  were  to  praise  the  "Beauty 
of  Holiness,'  that  beauty  which  belongs 
only  to  the  Holy  One.  Whatever  of  this 
beauty  is  seen  in  us.  He  puts  there.  It  is 


14  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

only  the  shining  out  of  the  life  He  lives 
in  us.  Have  you  been  trying  to  exhibit 
the  Beauty  of  Holiness  in  your  life  and 
countenance,  and  have  you  found  it  a  com- 
plete failure  ?  And  do  you  wonder  why  ? 
It  is  just  because  brambles  cannot  bring 
forth  grapes.  But  if  you  will  die,  if  you 
will  let  the  Holy  Ghost  consume  you  to 
ashes,  then  He  will  give  you  "beauty  for 
ashes,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit 
of  heaviness,  and  you  shall  be  called  trees 
of  righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord, 
that  He  may  be  glorified.' 

You  have  tried  so  hard  to  be  holy  and 
you  could  not,  but  hear  Him  whisper,  "I 
can.'  Take  Jesus  in  your  heart  as  the 
Overcomer,  and  praise  Him  by  faith  until 
you  have  manifest  and  complete  victory. 

One  brother  who  was  full  of  the  joy  of 
the  Lord,  said  to  another  who  was  cast 
down,  'It  is  by  the  praise  of  faith  that 
we  overcome  the  enemy.  Now  you  say, 
'Praise  the  Lord.'  "I  cannot  say  it  un- 
til I  fed  it  in  rny  soul,'  replied  the  other. 


THE   PRAISE   OP  FAITH  15 

' '  Yes,  you  can  say  it  by  faith. '  So  he  said 
it  very  faintly  and  dejectedly,  and  sorrow- 
fully, "Praise  +he  Lord,"  (sigh).  But  the 
joyful  brother  made  him  say  it  again.  And 
this  time  it  was  not  quite  so  much  like  a 
dirge.  Then  the  happy  brother,  pointing 
to  a  little  hill  close  by,  said,  "Are  you 
willing  tc  follow  my  prescription  ? ""  Yes, ' 
said  the  other.  "Very  well,  walk  to  the 
top  of  that  hill,  and  say,  'Praise  the  Lord/ 
every  step  of  the  way.' 

He  did  so,  and  by  the  time  he  got  to  the 
top  he  was  shouting  happy,  and  they  sang 
the  Lord's  praises  together. 

Now,  in  the  twenty-second  verse  we 
read,  'And  when  they  began  to  sing  and 
to  praise,  the  Lord  set  ambushments 
against  the  children  of  Ammon,  Moab  and 
Mt.  Seir,  which  were  come  against  Juclah, 
and  they  were  smitten.'  It  was  even  when 
they  began,  when  they  raised  their  first 
notes  of  praise,  that  the  Lord  set  ambush- 
ments against  their  enemies.  The  Lord 
began  to  work  as  soon  as  they  began  to 


16  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

praise,  and  not  before.  Oh,  it  is  wonder- 
ful how  Jesus  can  work  when  by  faith  we 
take  the  victory  as  already  accomplished 
and  begin  to  praise  Him! 

What  happened  for  the  deliverance  of 
Jehoshaphat  and  his  people?  Why  two 
of  the  allied  armies  began  to  fight  the  third, 
and  when  they  had  demolished  them  they 
turned  upon  each  other  and  destroyed  one 
another  untill  all  the  plain  was  filled  with 
dead  bodies  and  "none  escaped.' 

God  had  told  them  they  needed  not  to 
fight  in  that  battle.  They  stood  on  His 
promise,  and  began  to  praise  Him.  As 
soon  as  you  will  do  that,  just  so  soon  your 
enemies  will  begin  to  devour  each  other, 
one  trouble  eating  up  another  trouble,  until 
there  is  nothing  left. 

The  twenty-fifth  verse  tells  us  that 
'They  were  three  days  in  gathering  of 
the  spoil,  it  was  so  much.'  Beloved,  God 
never  lets  a  battle  or  a  trial  come  into  our 
lives  but  there  are  spoils  with  it.  Never 
a  real  time  of  trial  of  faith  but  there  are 


THE   PRAISE   OF   FAITH  17 

great  riches  at  the  end.  Instead  of  be- 
ing impoverished  by  them,  we  get  richer 
by  every  trial  in  which  our  faith  shines  out 
clearly  and  sings  praises. 

Oh,  the  idea  of  complaining  when  every- 
thing is  working  together  for  good  to  us. 
What  ungrateful  hearts  wre  have  not  to 
praise  Him  more;  His  heart  toward  us  is 
so  full  of  love  He  can  give  us  nothing  but 
blessing. 

Twenty-sixth  verse,  "And  on  the  fourth 
day  they  assembled  themselves  in  the  Val- 
ley of  Berachah  (that  is  blessing)  for  there 
they  blessed  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 

Every  one  of  us  can  go  into  this  valley 
of  blessing  each  day,  now.  There  is  a 
highway  to  it,  a  new  and  living  way 
through  Jesus.  We  go  down  there  in  our 
selfishness,  our  weakness,  our  pride,  our 
ingratitude,  our  carnal-mindedness,  and 
worldiness,  and  there  let  Him  crucify  us  to 
self  and  raise  us  again  to  newness  of  life 
in  Him. 

Twenty-eighth  verse,     "And  they  came 


18  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

to  Jerusalem  with  psalteries  and  harps  and 
trumpets  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.' 

In  II.  Chron.  v.  13,  15,  we  read,  ' '  It  came 
even  to  pass  as. the  trumpeters  and  sing- 
ers were  as  one,  to  make  one  sound  to  be 
heard  in  praising  and  thanking  the  Lord ; 
and  when  they  lifted  up  their  voices  with 
the  trumpets  and  cymbals  and  instruments 
of  music,  and  praised  the  Lord,  saying, 
For  He  is  good ;  for  His  mercy  enclureth 
forever,  that  then  the  house  was  filled  with 
a  cloud,  even  the  House  of  the  Lord ;  so 
that  the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister 
by  reason  of  the  cloud ;  for  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  had  filled  the  House  of  God.' 

Why  did  that  supreme  glory  come?  Be- 
cause of  the  unity  of  praise.  A  great 
blessing  comes  to  any  one  soul  who  praises 
the  Lord  all  alone ;  but  when  these  little 
rivers  of  praise  roll  together  they  make  a 
mighty  flood.  Then  God  can  come  in  His 
Shekinah  glory  and  flood  the  temple  so  that 
the  priests  cannot  stand  to  minister  any 
longer. 


THE   PRAISE   OF  FAITH  19 

When  that  glory  overpowers  our  prais- 
ing soul,  we  realize  that  there  is  something 
even  better  than  serving  Him.  It  is  blessed 
to  serve  our  God,  and  to  minister  to  Jesus 
in  the  person  of  His  little  ones,  but  even 
more  blessed  to  have  Him  minister  to  us. 
Once  in  a  while,  and  just  as  often  as  we 
can  bear  it,  God  comes  into  our  souls  with 
overpowering  grace,  saying,  "Come  aside 
and  rest  awhile,  come  into  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration  with  Me,  the  world  shut 
out,  and  behold  My  glory.'  And  the 
patient  Jesus  who  has  been  with  us  all  the 
long  and  weary  day,  bearing  our  burdens 
and  answering  our  prayers,  stands  transfi- 
ured  before  us,  the  heavenly  Bridegroom  of 
our  souls,  and  we  have  naught  to  do  but 
feast  on  Plis  divine  love. 

By  and  by  we  shall  have  it  all  the  time. 
We  shall  eat  with  Him  and  drink  with 
Him  and  lie  on  His  bosom  and  rest  in  His 
love.  Even  down  here  we  ought  not  to  be 
all  the  time  ministering.  It  is  our  own' 
blessed  privilege  to  stop  sometimes  and  go 


20  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

to  praising  Him  until  the  glory  comes  down 
and  fills  our  souls  with  a  joy  that  no  lan- 
guage can  ever  express. 

Now,  beloved,  won't  you  obey  God  per- 
fectly and  then  give  the  shout  of  faith 
whenever  foes  or  trials  assail  you,  and  let 
Him  win  the  battle  and  you  gather  the 
spoils?  God  bless  you  all  for  His  dear 
name's  sake.  Amen. 


THE  SACRIFICE  OF  PRAISE 


"Let    them    sacrifice    the    sacrifices    of    thanksgiving, 
and   declare    His   works    with   rejoicing.''    Ps.    cvii.    22. 


ffi 


Y  subject  today  is  the  Sacrifice  of 
Thanksgiving,  or  of  Praise,  and  we 
will  turn  to  the  Word  and  see  what 
the  Lord  says  to  us  about  it.  First  of  all, 
I  will  call  your  attention  to  two  verses 
which  the  Lord  has  made  full  of  meaning  to 
my  own  heart.  Deut.  xxviii.  47,  48.  'Be- 
cause thou  servedst  not  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  joyfulness  and  with  gladness  of  heart, 
for  the  abundance  of  all  things,  therefore 
shalt  thou  serve  thine  enemies,  which  the 
Lord  shall  send  against  thee,  in  hunger  and 
thirst  and  in  nakedness  and  in  want  of  all 
things. ' '  Now  you  notice  that,  although  the 
word  praise  or  thanksgiving  is  not  men- 
tioned here,  yet  this  is  what  is  conveyed  in 
the  thought  of  serving  the  Lord  with  joy- 
fulness  and  with  gladness  of  heart  for  the 
abundance  of  all  things.  And  if  they 


22  THE   LIFE    OF   PRAISE 

failed  to  serve  the  Lord  in  this  manner, 
when  He  had  provided  all  good  things  for 
them,  He  would  be  obliged  to  teach  them 
a  severe  lesson  and  take  these  good  things 
from  them,  bringing  them  into  a  place  of 
hunger  and  thirst  and  want  of  all  things. 
May  the  Holy  Spirit  search  us  today. 
Nearly  all  of  us  here  are  probably  serving 
the  Lord,  but  are  we  serving  Him  with 
that  joy  and  gladness  which  He  requires? 
Are  we  joyful  in  all  our  service  for  the 
King,  or  do  we  let  something  prey  upon 
our  joy,  thus  taking  away  the  secret  source 
of  divine  strength?  For  the  Word  says, 
"The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength.' 
How  can  we  be  strong  Christians  if  we 
are  not  filled  with  that  "oil  of  gladness' 
which  was  shed  upon  the  head  of  Jesus, 
and  which  He  is  willing  to  share  with 
each  believer  in  Him  ?  We  read  that  He 
was  "anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness 
above  His  fellows,"  and  we  in  Christ,  and 
living  the  Christ-life,  must  also  be  anointed 
with  the  same  oil.  of  gladness  through  the 


THE   SACRIFICE   OF   PRAISE  23 

power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  by  this 
kind  of  heavenly  joy  we  glorify  Him. 
When  we  have  in  our  hearts  the  secret  well- 
spring  of  divine  joy  it  will  not  fail  to  show 
in  our  faces,  and  to  come  forth  from  our 
lips  in  joyful  testimony. 

But  think  of  the  penalty  if  we  do  not 
serve  Him  with  joyfulness!  He  will  take 
away  from  us  our  blessings,  the  abundance 
of  good  things,  in  order  to  teach  us  to  be 
thankful.  Now,  beloved,  if  we  have  had  a 
murmuring,  complaining  spirit,  let  us  be- 
ware. Let  us  remember  the  judgments 
which  the  Lord  was  compelled  to  send  upon 
the  Israelites  when  they  murmured,  and  let 
us  give  that  complaining  spirit  over  to 
Jesus  today  that  He  may  deliver  us  from 
it,  and  fill  our  hearts  and  mouths  with  His 
praise. 

Now,  when  is  the  time  to  praise?  Oh, 
you  say,  when  everything  is  going  right, 
and  getting  into  shape,  and  the  troubles  of 
life  are  vanishing  away,  then  is  the  time  to 
praise.  Ah,  praise  comes  easy  then,  but 


24  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

the  time  to  glorify  God  the  most  by  praise 
is  when  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  praise.  Not  the 
praise  which  comes  from  seeing  all  things 
look  right,  but  the  praise  which  comes  from 
simple  faith  in  Jesus,  even  before  the  dark 
clouds  have  rolled  away.  Praise  at  such 
times  is  called  "the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiv- 
ing, ' '  because  it  is  a  real  sacrifice,  like  any 
other  sacrifice  which  is  hard  from  a  natural 
standpoint,  but  God  makes  it  easy  and 
blessed.  Let  us  take  an  example  from  Acts 
xvi.  23,  26.  We  read  in  this  passage  that 
Paul  and  Silas  had  been  cast  into  prison, 
after  having  received  "many  stripes.' 
Those  awful  instruments  of  torture  which 
were  used  for  the  stripes  would  actually 
plow  furrows  in  their  backs.  Bleeding  and 
sore,  they  were  cast  into  the  inner  prison. 
-•itid  their  feet  made  fast  in  the  stocks. 
Surely  they  were  a  picture  of  perfect  mis- 
cry,  and  you  would  not  consider  this  a  fit 
time  to  praise  God.  But  these  two  disciples 
knew  God,  and  trusted  Him,  and  offered  to 
Hi  in  the  sacrifice  of  praise.  "At  midnieht 


THE   SACRIFICE   OF  PRAISE  25 

Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  and  sang  praises 
unto  God,  and  the  prisoners  heard  them.' 
And  that  praise  of  faith  went  straight  up 
to  glory,  and  entered  into  the  ears  of  the 
Lord,  and  He  sent  a  great  earthquake,  "so 
that  the  foundations  of  the  prison  were 
shaken :  and  immediately  all  the  doors  were 
opened,  and  every  one's  bands  were 
loosed.'  I  believe  they  might  have  prayed 
all  night  without  having  much  of  an  earth- 
quake, but  when  they  took  the  attitude  of 
deliverance  and  victory  and  began  to  praise 
the  Lord,  then  came  the  great  earthquake 
which  set  them  all  free.  Beloved,  if  in  the 
time  of  your  greatest  trial  you  take  the 
attitude  of  victory  and  praise  the  Lord  for 
deliverance  before  you  see  it,  God  will  send 
some  kind  of  an  earthquake.  He  will  shake 
things  up,  and  will  do  something  marvelous 
for  you.  The  very  foundations  of  the  prison 
were  shaken,  and  when  you  praise  by  faith 
the  foundations  of  your  prison  house  will 
also  be  shaken. 

But  we  must  remember  that  it  is  after 


26  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

the  obedience  of  faith  that  the  shout  of 
faith  comes.  The  hosts  of 'Israel  marched 
around  Jericho  just  as  the  Lord  com- 
manded, and  as  many  times  as  He  com- 
manded before  they  could  shout  in  faith. 
And  when  your  whole  heart  obeys  God, 
then  there  will  come  into  it  the  shout  of  vic- 
tory through  the  might  of  Jehovah.  It  is 
not  a  shout  which  comes  from  our  own 
natural  heart,  but  it  is  wrought  within  us 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  we  are  fully 
yielded  to  Him.  This  is  the  sacrifice  of 
faith.  The  praise  which  comes  by  sight 
would  have  said,  ' '  Oh,  Lord,  just  make  the 
walls  totter  a  little  or  loosen  a  few  stones 
so  that  we  may  really  know  Thou  art  going 
to  do  this  mighty  thing,  and  then  we  will 
shout  Thy  praise.'  But,  that  would  not  be 
faith  at  all.  Lord,  help  us  to  have  the 
real  faith  in  Thee,  and  then  we  shall  give 
the  shout  of  victory,  because  wre  cannot 
help  it,  and  the  walls  of  Jericho  will  fall, 
and  Thou  shalt  be  honored.  In  II.  Chron. 
xx.  \v<>  :*ead  of  the  great  company  which 


THE   SACRIFICE   OF  PRAISE  27 

came  out  against  King  Jehoshaphat,  and 
how  "he  set  himself  to  seek  the  Lord.' 
Then  he  gathers  the  people  together  to  ask 
help  of  the  Lord,  and  he  makes  this  beau- 
tiful prayer,  "For  we  have  no  might 
against  this  company  .  .  .  neither  know 
we  what  to  do,  but  our  eyes  are  upon 
Thee. ' '  Now  you  are  thinking  of  some  great 
trouble  in  your  life,  and  you  are  saying, 
41  Oh,  Lord,  I  have  no  might.'  Yes,  God 
knows  that.  "Neither  know  we  what  to  do.' 
Yes,  God  knows  your  helplessness,  but  will 
you  not  do  as  Jehoshaphat  did,  get  your 
eyes  off  from  circumstances,  and  get  them 
upon  God?  Can  you  say,  "Our  eyes  are 
upon  Thee?'  Not  upon  circumstances,  or 
this  great  company,  but  upon  Thee.  Then 
comes  the  answer  from  the  Lord,  "Be  not 
afraid :  the  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God 's. ' 
If  the  battle  were  ours  we  would  have  cause 
to  fear,  but  because  it  is  God's  we  may  just 
watch  Him  gain  the  victory.  We  can  have 
our  hearts  full  of  song  because  He  always 
conquers.  "Ye  shall  not  need  to  fight.' 


28  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 


Verse  17.  Oh,  that  we  might  learn  that.  He 
is  saying  it  to  trembling  hearts  this  morn- 
ing. Will  you  not  take  the  comfort  of  it, 
and  ' '  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord?" 

Then  the  word  came  that  they  were  to 
put  all  the  singers  in  the  forefront  of  tht 
battle,  and  to  go  out  against  their  enemies. 
They  were  to  have  no  weapons  except  that 
of  praise,  and  the  singers  in  the  front  ranks 
were  to  sing,  "Praise  the  Lord,'  in  one 
united  strain.  That  was  a  strange  army, 
was  it  not?  Have  you  arrayed  yourself 
thus  against  the  enemy?  Is  all  of  your  be- 
ing, the  strength  of  your  whole  nature, 
gathered  together  to  say  in  the  spirit, 
'Praise  the  Lord.'  Many  a  time  I  do  not 
feel  like  saying  it,  I  do  not  find  it  in  my 
emotions,  but  deep  in  my  spirit  I  offer 
the  sacrifice  of  praise.  I  know  no  way  of 
deliverance,  but  God  knows,  and  my  eyes 
are  unto  Him.  I  begin  to  praise  Him  and 
then  there  comes  a  rift  through  the  dark 
clouds  of  difficulty  and  trouble. 


THE    SACRIFICE   OF   PRAISE  29 

"When  they  began  to  sing  and  to  praise, 
the  Lord  set  ambushments  against  the  en- 
emy. '  When  they  ' '  began ! '  0,  beloved, 
let  us  begin  praising  Him  if  we  have  not 
begun  before,  and  then  He  will  begin  to 
work  wondrously  in  our  lives.  Many  times 
the  Lord  cannot  begin  to  work  while  we 
keep  pleading  and  praying,  but  if  we  turn 
the  current  from  prayer  to  praise  He  will 
make  us  more  than  conquerors  over  the 
difficulties  in  our  pathway. 

Now  by  the  help  of  God  will  you  decide 
to  take  the  attitude  of  victory  from  this 
day  forward,  singing  and  praising  until  the 
battle  is  won,  and  there  is  a  gathering  of 
groat  spoil  ?  Lord,  fill  us  with  a  glorious, 
victorious  faith,  which  cannot  help  but 
shout  before  the  walls  fall. 


THE  GARMENT  OF  PRAISE 


E  will  take  for  our  subject  a  Bible 
reading  on  Praise,  and  we  will  trust 
God  to  fill  our  hearts  with  praise  and 
gratitude  to  Him  at  this  Thanksgiving  sea- 
son. 

We  will  take  for  our  first  text  Ps.  1.  23, 
"Whoso  offereth  praise  glorifieth  Me:  and 
to  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation 
aright  will  I  show  the  salvation  of  God.' 
This  may  be  rendered,  "Whoso  sacrificeth 
thanksgiving  glorifieth  Me";  and  so  we 
see  that  we  are  to  bring  thanksgiving  or 
praise  tc  the  Lord  as  an  aceptable  service 
before  Him.  Some  of  us  have  been  long- 
ing to  glorify  the  Lord,  and  have  wished 
that  we  might  do  something  great  for  the 
glory  of  His  name,  but  here  we  see  that 
the  offering  of  praise  glorifies  Him,  and 
even  the  smallest  and  weakest  Christian 
among  us  may  be  able  to  glorify  Him  in 


THE   GARMENT  OP  PRAISE  31 

this  way.  From  the  latter  part  of  the  verse 
it  would  seem  that  the  ordering  of  our  con- 
versation aright  is  to  praise  the  Lord  at  all 
times.  Surely  this  is  a  right  and  blessed 
kind  of  conversation.  If  we  are  praising 
the  Lord  continually  and  talking  about  His 
wondrous  works,  we  shall  not  be  criticizing 
our  neighbor,  or  blaming  some  one,  or 
grumbling  about  circumstances,  because 
our  tongues  will  be  in  better  business. 
There  is  a  promise  here  that  if  we  order 
our  conversation  aright,  we  shall  be  shown 
God's  salvation,  and  if  we  feel  that  we 
need  deeper  and  higher  salvation,  let  us 
begin  to  praise  Him  and  God  will  reveal 
Himself  to  us  more  fully.  This  is  such  an 
easy  way  of  glorifying  our  Lord  and 
Master,  shall  we  not  praise  Him  more  and 
more? 

Psalm  c.  4:  "Enter  into  His  gates  with 
thanksgiving,  and  into  His  courts  with 
praise;  be  thankful  unto  Him,  and  bless 
His  name." 


32  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

When  we  come  to  God  for  prayer  and 
communion  with  Him,  our  entrance  into 
His  gates,  or  approach  unto  Him,  should 
be  with  thanksgiving.  Even  before  we 
make  known  our  requests,  we  ought  to  pour 
forth  our  hearts  in  praise  as  a  fitting  ap- 
proach unto  Him  who  has  shown  forth  His 
mercy.  In  this  same  Psalm  we  are  ex- 
horted to  praise  the  Lord  because  of  the 
Lord's  goodness  and  mercy.  Circumstances 
may  not  be  encouraging  at  the  moment,  and 
all  may  seem  dark  around  us,  but  the  fact 
still  remains  "that  the  Lord  is  good,"  and 
that  "His  mercy  is  everlasting.'  As  we 
continue  to  wait  upon  Him  with  thanksgiv- 
ing and  supplication,  He  will  reveal  His  en- 
during goodness  and  mercy  in  our  lives.  No 
matter  how  you  feel,  remember  that  a  fit- 
ting approach  to  His  comets  is  praise. 

(Isa.  Ixi.  3.)  "To  appoint  unto  them 
that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give  unto  them 
beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourn- 
ing, the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 


THE   GARMENT   OF   PRAISE  33 

heaviness  .  .  .  That  He  might  be  glori- 
fied.' Some  of  us  may  be  in  heaviness 
this  morning,  but  it  is  our  privilege  to  ex- 
change this  spirit  of  heaviness  for  the  gar- 
ment of  praise.  How  many  want  this  new 
garment?  We  may  have  it  if  we  will  trust 
His  Word,  and  this  beautiful  garment  need 
not  wear  out  from  this  Thanksgiving  time 
to  the  next.  The  bitter  springs  are  allowed 
to  come  into  our  lives,  but  the  Lord  will 
sweeten  them  all  with  His  love  and  tender- 
ness and  joy.  The  Word  tells  us  the  joy 
of  the  Lord  is  our  strength.  How  shall  we 
be  strong,  dear  ones,  unless  we  are  anointed 
with  the  "oil  of  gladness?'  If  we  keep  our 
eyes  off  from  ourselves  and  from  our  cir- 
cumstances and  look  at  our  merciful,  loving 
Lord,  we  shall  surely  be  clothed  from  head 
to  foot  with  the  garment  of  praise,  and  He 
shall  be  glorified. 

(Jer.  xxxiii.  11.)  "The  voice  of  joy,  and 
the  voice  of  gladness ;  the  voice  of  the 
bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of  the  bride ;  the 
voice  of  them  that  shall  say,  Praise  the 


34  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Lord  of  hosts  •  for  the  Lord  is  good,  for  His 
mercv  endureth  forever ;  and  of  them  that 

tj 

shall  bring  the  sacrifice  of  praise  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord.'  Here  is  a  remarkable 
expression,  "the  sacrifice  of  praise.'  What 
is  a  sacrifice  ?  It  is  an  offering  to  God  that 
costs  us  something.  What  is  a  sacrifice  of 
praise  ?  It  is  to  praise  the  Lord  when  we 
don't  feel  like  it,  and  when  it  costs  us 
something.  Praise  Him  the  next  time  you 
are  sorrowful.  Begin  praising  the  Lord  by 
faith.  Offer  praise  as  a  sacrifice  and  see 
how  the  Lord  will  bless  you  in  doing  it.  We 
have  this  same  expression  in  Heb.  xiii.  15, 
'By  Him,  therefore,  let  us  offer  the  sacri- 
fice of  praise  to  God  continually,  that  is,. 
the  fruit  of  our  lips,  giving  thanks  to  His 
name.'  If  we  did  not  know  what  this  ex- 
pression was  intended  to  mean  in  the  other 
verse  in  Jeremiah,  we  are  left  without  a 
iloubt  in  this  passage,  for  we  are  told  that 
it  is  the  fruit  of  our  lips  giving  thanks  to 
!Iis  name.  It  is  not  enough  to  praise  the 
Lord  in  our  hearts  alone,  but  we  must 


THE   GARMENT   OF   PRAISE  35 

praise  Him  with  our  lips,  so  that  the  hum- 
ble may  hear  and  be  glad.  How  often  are 
we  to  offer  this  sacrifice  of  praise  ?  The 
Word  says,  "continually.'  May  the  Lord 
so  fill  us  with  the  spirit  of  praise  that  it 
.shall  continually  ascend  from  our  hearts  as 
precious  incense,  acceptable  through  Jesus 

Christ. 

(Acts  xvi.  25.)     Here  wTe  read  of  Paul 

and  Silas,  who  had  been  thrown  into  prison 
\or  preaching  Jesus.  They  had  been  placed 
in  the  inner  prison  and  their  feet  had  been 
made  fast  in  the  stocks.  There  in  the  dark 
dungeon,  with  backs  all  sore  and  bleeding 
from  the  stripes  they  had  received,  and 
with  feet  fastened  in  such  a  way  as  to  place 
them  in  the  most  uncomfortable  position, 
what  did  they  do  ?  Did  they  begin  to  mur- 
mur and  say :  ' '  I  never  thought  the  Lord 
Jesus  would  allow  such  a  thing  to  come  to 
me.  If  such  results  come  from  my  preach- 
ing, I  am  going  to  stop  T  Perhaps  some  of 
us  might  have  been  faint-hearted  enough  to 
say  that,  but  Paul  and  Silas  did  not.  They 


36  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

sang  praises  to  God  at  midnight,  and  they 
sang  so  loud  that  the  other  prisoners  heard 
them.  Then  God  sent  a  great  earthquake, 
which  shook  the  foundations  of  the  prison 
and  made  all  the  doors  fly  open,  and  un- 
fastened the  chains  that  bound  the  prison- 
ers. If  it  is  midnight  in  your  experience, 
begin  to  praise  God  and  continue  to  praise 
Him  through  all  the  gloom  which  encircles 
you,  and  at  last  God  will  send  some  kind  of 
an  earthquake  to  set  you  free. 

II.  Chron.  xx.  21 :  Here  we  read  of 
Jehoshaphat,  who  was  king  over  God's  peo- 
ple, and  a  host  of  enemies  came  to  fight 
ugainst  him.  At  first  Jehoshaphat  was 
greatly  frightened,  but  he  set  himself  to 
'seek  the  Lord  and  proclaimed  a  fast,' 
and  gathered  all  the  people  of  God  in  a 
prayer  and  consecration  meeting.  God  sent 
word  through  a  prophet,  "Ye  shall  not 
need  to  fight  in  this  battle ;  set  yourselves, 
stand  ye  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord  with  you.'  How  do  you  think  Je- 
hoshaphat set  his  army  ?  In  the  very  front. 


THE   GARMENT   OF   PRAISE  37 

"He  appointed  singers  unto  the  Lord  and 
that  should  praise  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
as  they  went  out  before  the  army,  and  to 
sayr  Praise  the  Lord ;  for  His  mercy  en- 
clureth  forever.'  What  a  strange  battle 
they  were  to  fight,  without  swords,  or  bows, 
or  arrows,  but  only  with  the  weapon  of 
praise  !  We  do  not  read  that  the  Lord  began 
to  deliver  them  until  they  began  to  praise 
Him,  but  "when  they  began  to  sing  and  to 
praise"  even  when  they  "began  to  sing  and 
to  praise"  (even  at  the  beginning  of  thanks- 
giving), the  Lord  set  ambushments  against 
the  enemy  and  they  began  to  kill  each  other 
and  none  escaped.  The  dead  bodies  were 
covered  with  precious  jewels  and  they 
found  an  abundance  of  riches  with  their 
dead  enemies,  so  that ' '  they  were  three  days 
in  gathering  of  the  spoil,  it  was  so  much.' 
Thus  we  see  that  God's  people  were  much 
richer  at  the  end  of  this  trial  of  faith  than 
at  the  beginning.  Likewise,  when  we  have 
a  trial  of  faith,  and  we  praise  the  Lord  and 
let  Him  fight  the  battle  frr  us,  we  shall  be 


38  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

much  richer  in  our  spiritual  experience 
than  at  the  beginning  of  the  trial.  Surely 
these  people  offered  the  sacrifice  of  praise, 
for  they  could  not  have  felt  very  much  like 
singing  when  they  saw  the  enemy  drawn 
up  in  battle  array  with  deadly  weapons, 
waiting  to  seize  an  easy  prey.  I  doubt  not 
that  their  hearts  trembled,  and  perhaps 
their  voices,  too,  as  they  went  forth  sing- 
ing, but  they  simply  obeyed  God  and  He 
gave  the  victory.  If  our  hearts  tremble,  as 
we  come  into  some  new  encounter  with  the 
enemy,  still  let  us  praise  Him  and  say, 
"What  time  I  am  afraid  I  will  trust  in 
Thee." 

II.  Chron.  v.  13,  14:  "It  came  even  to 
pass,  as  the  trumpeters  and  singers  were 
as  one,  to  make  one  sound  to  be  heard  in 
praising  and  thanking  the  Lord ;  and  when 
they  lifted  up  their  voice  with  the  trum- 
pets and  cymbals  and  instruments  of  music, 
and  praised  the  Lord,  saying,  For  he  is 
good ;  for  His  mercy  endureth  forever, 
that  then  the  house  was  filled  with  a  cloud. 


THE   GARMENT  OP  PRAISE  39 

even  the  house  of  the  Lord ;  so  that  the 
priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  by  rea- 
son of  the  cloud ;  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
had  filled  the  house  of  God.'  This  was 
after  Solomon's  temple  was  finished  and 
they  had  brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord  into  the  most  holy  place ;  but 
the  glory  of  God  was  not  poured  out  until 
"the  trumpeters  and  singers  were  as  one' 
in  praising  God.  I  believe  if  God's  peo- 
ple were  so  united  to  be  as  one  in  their 
praise  to  God,  His  house  would  soon  bo 
filled  with  the  Shekinah  glory.  The  trouble 
is  that  some  one  is  out  of  tune ;  some  one 
has  a  heart  lacking  in  love,  and  which  is 
not  attuned  to  God's  praise.  If  each  little 
assembly  in  Christ's  name  would  wait  upon 
God  until  they  were  united  in  heart  and 
then  would  begin  to  praise  God  in  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit,  I  believe  our  hearts  would  be 
filled  with  His  glory. 

Shall  we  not,  this  day,  yield  absolutely 
to  Him,  that  our  hearts  may  be  taken  pos- 
session of  wholly  by  the  blessed  Spirit  of 


40  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

God,  who  perfects  His  praise  in  and 
through  us  ?  Thus  shall  He  be  able  to  pour 
His  glory  upon  us,  so  that  sometimes  even 
service  shall  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  joy 
of  communion,  and  for  the  time  being  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  minister  unto  Him,  but 
shall  know  unspeakable  joy  in  his  min- 
istering to  us.  I  believe  the  highest  form  of 
worship  is  that  wonderful  communion  of 
which  we  have  only  a  foretaste  here,  but  of 
which  we  shall  know  the  fullness  bye  and 
bye. 

Here  on  earth  these  times  of  unspeakable 
rapture  do  not  last  long,  for  we  must  come 
down  from  the  mountain  top,  as  did  the 
disciples  from  the  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion, to  new  scenes  of  suffering  and  to  pre- 
cious ministeries  to  the  sinful  and  sorrow- 
ing ;  but  we  are  better  able  to  meet  these 
calls  because  of  having  entered  the  trans- 
figuration glory  on  the  mountain  top  with 
our  Lord. 

May    every    fresh    revelation    of    God's 


THE  GARMENT  OP  PRAISE  41 

glory  in  our  souls  only  prepare  us  better 
for  ministry  in  His  name  to  the  needy  ones 
around  us,  and  may  our  hearts  and  lives 
be  so  filled  with  praise  that  we  shall  not 
merely  know  one  Thanksgiving  Day  in  the 
year,  but  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
of  the  year  shall  be  thanksgiving  days! 


THE  COURAGE  OF  FAITH 

"But    David    encouraged    himself    in    the    Lord     his 
God."      I.    Samuel    xxx.    6. 

T   is   in   the   Lord   Himself  that   we  . 
must  find  encouragement.  If  we  look 
at  ourselves  we  are  taking  our  eyes 
off  from  Jesus  and  that  inward  look  brings 
naught  but  discouragement.     We  see  our 
selves  with  all  our  failures  and  defects.  We 
look   around   at   circumstances.     They   are 
usually  not  encouraging,  but  if  for  the  mo- 
ment they  are  full  of  hope,  they  may  terri- 
bly disappoint  us  the  next  moment,  for  they 
are  like  shifting  sand  and  cannot  be   de- 
pended upon.     But  if  we  encourage  our- 
selves in  the  Lord,  as  David  did,  all  will  be 
well,  for  He  never  changes;  "His  mercy 
endureth  forever."    All  circumstances  are 
subject  to  His  control,  and  as  we  look  to 
Him  by  faith  He  will  cause  all  things,  good 
or  seeming  evil,  to  work  together  for  our 


THE  COURAGE  OF  FAITH  43 

best  advantage.  But  it  is  while  we  keep 
our  gaze  steadfastly  on  "the  things  which 
are  not  .seen, ' '  instead  of  ' '  the  things  which 
are  seen, ' '  that  our  affliction  i  i  worketh  for 
us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory"  (II.  Cor.  iv.  17,  18). 

The  enemy  knows  that  we  shall  be  ' '  more 
than  conquerors'  over  every  situation  of 
trial  if  we  thus  keep  our  gaze  turned  away 
from  the  seen  things  to  the  unseen,  so  when 
we  have  started  on  this  life  of  faith  he  will 
use  all  his  arts  to  make  us  look  at  the  tem- 
poral things  instead  of  the  eternal.  He  will 
seek  to  make  the  temporal  things  seem  the 
real,  when,  in  fact,  the  eternal  and  unseen 
things  of  God  are  the  real,  and  the  things 

we  see  are  as  passing  shadows. 

• 

For  example,  we  ask  something  from  God 
in  prayer.  We  have  fulfilled  all  the  con- 
ditions ;  our  heart  condemns  us  not,  and  we 
ask  according  to  His  revealed  will  in  His 
Word.  According  to  that  Word  we  believe 
that  we  receive  when  we  pray  (Mark  xi. 


44  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

24),  and  now  take  an  attitude  of  praise  in- 
stead of  further  supplication.  How  often, 
after  such  a  step  of  faith,  surrounding  cir- 
cumstances seem  to  contradict  more  than 
ever  the  truth  of  God's  Word.  Evidence 
in  the  things  that  are  seen  seems  to  pile  up 
mountain  high  against  the  truth  of  the  un- 
seen things  which  we  have  claimed.  Instead 
of  the  peace  we  expected  there  is  a  terrific 
conflict.  This  is  not  strange,  for  we  have 
entered  upon  "the  good  fight  of  faith,' 
spoken  of  in  I.  Tim.  vi.  12,  and  well  is  it 
for  us  if  we  have  the  whole  armor  on.  God 
has  provided  this  armor  that  we  may  not  be 
defeated,  and  He  has  given  us  the  shield 
of  faith  wherewith  we  shall  be  "able  to 
quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked' 
(Eph.  vi.  16).  Have  you  wondered  that 
the  temptations  were  so  subtle  and  so  fiery  ? 
God  has  already  told  you  that  they  would 
be  ' '  fiery  darts. '  And  He  has  also  told  us 
not  to  think  it  strange  concerning  the  fiery 
trial  that  is  to  try  us.  So  the  next  time 


THE   COURAGE   OF   FAITH  45 

you  find  yourself  saying,  with  almost  a  half 
murmur,  ' '  How  strange  ! '  remember  that 
you  must  not  say  it ;  you  must  not  even 
think  it,  but  God's  command  is  to  "re- 
joice,' and  to  "count'  these  temptations 
"all  joy.'  They  do  not  seem  joyful,  but 
grievous,  but  we  must  side  with  God  and 
see  things  from  His  standpoint,  counting 
them  all  joy,  and  as  we  count  them  joy  God 
will  turn  them  into  joy. 

God  has  told  us  to  add  to  our  faith  cour- 
age. How  can  we  do  this?  By  keeping 
the  eye  of  faith  steadfastly  on  the  things 
not  seen.  This  brings  courage,  because  it 
does  not  permit  us  to  be  discouraged  by 
the  things  we  see.  God  gives  a  promise, 
based  on  a  condition.  We  fulfill  the  condi- 
tion which  is  our  part  of  the  covenant.  Is 
not  God  instantly  faithful  to  His  part  of 
the  covenant  ?  You  believe  He  is,  but  can- 
not see  it.  Now,  which  do  you  choose  to 
believe,  His  Word  or  your  human  sight? 
"Let  God  be  true  and  every  man  a  liar.' 


46  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

\rou  can  afford  to  seem  like  a  liar  to  uphold 
God's  faithfulness.  You  can  afford  to  look 
upon  your  feelings  and  all  adverse  circum- 
stances as  so  many  lies  if  they  contradict 
God,  for  as  you  continue  to  believe  God 
against  all  seemings,  your  feelings  and  cir- 
cumstances will  sooner  or  later  be  obliged 
to  fall  into  line  with  God's  truth.  Hallelu- 
jah !  "  Deceivers,  and  yet  true, ' '  said  Paul, 
and  this  is  our  attitude  as  we  stand  with 
God  and  on  His  Word  against  all  apparent 
contradiction.  We  have  a  God  who  "calleth 
those  things  which  be  not  as  though  they 
were,'  and  Abraham,  the  father  of  those 
who  believe,  was  made  "like  unto  God'  in 
this  respect.  (See  Romans  iv.  17,  margin). 

Thus  may  we  who  walk  in  the  steps  of 
Abraham  call  those  things  which  be  not  as 
though  they  are,  and  this  faith  will  move 
the  very  arm  of  Omnipotence,  and  it  shall 
be  done  unto  us  according  to  our  faith. 

Let  us  ever  bear  in  mind  that  all  dis- 
couragement is  from  the  enemy  of  our  souls 


THE   COURAGE   OF   FAITH  47 

Lord'  with  "good  courage'  until  He  so 
strengthens  our  heart  that  there  is  not  the 
least  waver  or  tremble  in  our  position  of 
faith ;  then  shall  He  pour  upon  us  the  ful- 
fillment of  all  ye  have  believed  for;  yea, 
"exceeding  abundantly  above"  all  we  have 
and  we  must  resist  it  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
as  we  would  resist  any  other  temptation. 
Many  a  time  the  enemy  has  thrust  at  us 
and  wounded  our  souls  through  discourage- 
ment, when  he  would  have  found  no  way  to 
pierce  between  the  joints  of  our  armor  had 
we  not  been  ignorant  of  his  devices. 

David  said :  "I  had  fainted  unless  I  had 
believed  to  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord 
in  the  land  of  the  living.  Wait  on  the 
Lord;  be  of  good  courage  and  He  shall 
strengthen  thine  heart/  He  was  kept  from 
fainting  and  giving  the  battle  over  not  be- 
cause he  saw  deliverance,  but  because  he 
"believed  to  see.' 

Let  us  believe  to  see  God's  goodness  and 
if  the  blessing  tarries  let  us  "wait  on  the 


48  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

known  how  to  ask.  Let  us  be  "followers 
of  them  who  through  faith  and  patience' 
inherited  the  promises  (Heb.  vi.  12),  and 
let  us  never  be  impatient  over  God 's  delays, 
for  He  waits  that  He  may  be  gracious,  and 
through  the  very  waiting  time  He  is  able 
to  enrich  and  perfect  the  blessing  which  He 
longs  to  bestow  upon  us. 


SONGS  OF  DELIVERANCE 


HOU  shalt  compass  me  about  with 
songs  of  deliverance,'  says  the 
Psalmist,  and  this  sweet  assurance 
finds  an  echo  in  my  heart,  for  I  well  re- 
member when  this  very  verse  was  verified 
in  my  own  experience.  I  had  been  held  a 
captive  for  over  two  years  on  a  bed  of  pain, 
and  worse  than  physical  pain  was  the  agony 
I  endured  in  my  soul.  I  was  crying  out 
after  a  living  God  and  I  was  like  a  hart 
panting  for  the  water  brooks,  yet  it  seemed 
that  no  answer  had  come  out  of  the  thick 
darkness  in  which  I  was  enveloped.  'O 
God,  reveal  Thyself  to  me,'  I  cried  again 
and  again,  but  there  was  no  voice  nor 
answer.  The  days  grew  darker,  the  physical 
agony  and  weakness  increased.  The  waters 
of  Jordan  rolled  at  my  feet ;  I  shrank  back, 
for  God  seemed  far  away,  like  a  stranger  to 


50  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

me.  I  had  sought  Him  but  had  not  found 
Him,  and  my  heart  seemed  bleeding  to 
death  with  its  anguish.  I  dared  not  tell 
others  my  fears  and  doubts,  but  kept  them 
all  pent  up  in  my  own  heart.  My  precious 
mother  suffered  with  me  in  my  intense 
physical  pain,  and  her  own  soul  was  pressed 
with  grief  as  she  saw7  her  third  daughter 
fading  away  from  life,  as  her  other  two 
had  previously  done,  but  at  last  in  the 
midst  of  the  thick  darkness,  the  words  came 
to  her  like  a  silver  thread  of  hope,  "Thou 
shalt  compass  me  about  with  songs  of  cle- 

.  liverance.'  What  did  the  sweet,  strange 
message  mean?  What  deliverance  could 

.there  be?  Was  not  all  human  hope  gone, 
and  must  she  not  relinquish  her  darling 

-child  to  the*grave?  But  still  the  sweet 
message  would  follow  her  at  every  turn, 
and  she  could  only  wait  for  the  Lord  to 
reveal  its  meaning.  Two  or  three  dear 

.  friends  were  admitted  to  the  silent  room  to 
take,  as  they  supposed,  a  last  look  at  the 
wasted  sufferer.  My  \vhispered  word  to 


SONGS   OF   DELIVERANCE  51 

them  was  almost  too  faint  to  be  heard  at 
all.  I  looked  in  their  eyes  and  saw  the 
good-bye  they  dared  not  utter,  for  they  had 
been  cautioned  against  showing  any  emo- 
tion. I  felt  the  chill  of  death  creeping  over 
my  body ;  nothing  could  warm  me  now.  1 
experienced  the  strange  mingling  of  the 
senses  that  so  often  precedes  death.  I  was 
dying,  I  knew  it,  and  still  my  soul  seemed 
as  keen  and  intense  as  ever,  and  my  long- 
ings for  God  were  unutterable.  I  held  on  to 
life  because  I  was  not  ready  to  meet  God. 
I  believed  that  I  was  His  child,  but  I  had 
never  worked  for  Him,  had  never  brought 
a  soul  to  Christ.  How  could  I  appear  be- 
fore Him  without  a  single  sheaf  to  lay 
at  His  feet  ?  Though  I  knew  it  not,  He  had 
been  listening  to  my  cries ;  He  had  been 
working  to  bring  me  to  the  end  of  myself 
and  self -effort.  He  had  only  been  hiding 
Himself  that  my  whole  soul  might  be  drawn 
out  in  pursuit  after  Him,  and  then  came 
the  blessed  moment  of  revelation  when 
the  "windows  of  heaven' '  were  opened,  the 


52  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

light  of  God  streamed  into  my  soul,  the 
Holy  Ghost  became  a  living  and  blessed 
personality,  and  in  that  delightful  moment 
of  perfect  faith  it  was  an  easy  matter  to 
ask  and  receive  the  healing  of  my  body.  I 
seemed,  literally,  to  be  made  over  in  spirit, 
soul  and  body.  I  believe  I  know,  at  least 
in  a  measure,  how  we  shall  feel  on  the 
resurrection  morning.  I  rose  in  His 
strength,  and  ere  long  was  able  to  go  out 
into  the  glad  sunshine.  How  brightly  it 
shone !  How  new  the  old  world  looked ! 
I  called  upon  the  very  trees  of  the  field  to 
clap  their  hands  and  rejoice  with  me.  I 
could  say  in  the  language  of  the  little 
hymn : 

Heaven    above    is    softer    blue, 

Earth  beneath   is    deeper   green, 
Something    lives    in    every    hue, 

Christless    eyes    have    never    seen. 
Birds  with  gladder  songs  o'erflow, 

Flowers    with    sweeter    beauty    shine, 
Since   I   know,    as   now   I   know, 

I  am  His  and  He  is  mine. 

It  was  blessed  to  be  suddenly  well  again, 
to  be  healed  by  the  power  of  the  Lord,  to 


SONGS   OF  DELIVERANCE  53 

feel  His  healing  touch  thriling  every  nerve, 
to  have  the  suffering  spine  soothed  by  His 
touch  until  it  could  ache  no  more ;  to  have 
the  new  force  of  life  pulsing  through  every 
vein ;  but  all  this  was  small  in  comparison 
with  the  unspeakable  joy  that  had  taken 
possession  of  my  soul.  I  said  to  my  dear 
mother,  "Oh,  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God!'  I  had  never  known 
what  liberty  meant  before.  My  soul  rose 
'  *  up  on  wings  as  eagles, '  and  refused  to 
ever  be  caged  again.  My  dumb  lips  were 
unsealed  and  have  been  singing  the  'new 
song"  ever  since.  I  had  been  full  of  world- 
ly ambitions  before  this  blessed  experience, 
but  now  I  had  only  one  aim,  which  was 
to  dwell  forever  in  the  presence  of  my  Be- 
loved, to  behold  His  beauty,  and  to  inquire 
in  His  temple.  My  soul  is  indeed  like  a 
bird  escaped  from  the  snare  of  the  fowler ; 
the  snare  is  broken  and  I  am  escaped,  and 
now  the  great  problem  is,  "How  can  my 
freed  life  ever  praise  and  serve  my  great 
Deliverer  enough?'  Surely  the  days  and 


54  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

months  are  all  too  short  in  which  to  preach 
the  glad  tidings  of  deliverance  to  other 
captive  souls,  but,  by  His  grace,  I  labor  on, 
striving  according  to  His  mighty  working 
in  me. 

Only  as  we  know  this  great  deliverance 
ourselves  shall  we  know  how  to  tell  it  forth 
to  others.  Woe  to  the  soul  that  knows  de- 
liverance and  does  not  seek  after  other  lost 
ones.  God  says,  "I  will  deliver  thee,  and 
thou  shall  glorify  Me,"  and  unless  we  hon- 
or Him  by  faithful  testimony  and  earnest 
labor,  we  shall  surely  be  entangled  with  the 
yoke  of  bondage  again. 


"BELIEVE  THAT  YE  RECEIVE" 


OD   is  holding  out  to  us  marvelous 
blessings,  which  are  all  included  in 
the  supreme  gift  of  His  dear  Son, 
but  we   are   continually   grieving  Him  by 
our  lack  of  receptivity.     It  is  shown  by 
the  Word  of  God  that  we  possess  already 
this  quality  of  receptivity  in  our  souls,  and 
that  we  must  exercise  it  if  we  are  to  come 
ir.to  possession  of  the  wonderful  blessings 
God    has    bestowed    upon    us    in    Christ. 
Failure  to  apprehend  our  true  position  on 
this  line  causes  us  much  grief  and  disap 
pointment ;   and,   far  worse  than   this,   we 
are  grieving  the  heart  of  our  loving  heaven- 
ly Father.  We  read  His  promises,  and  pray 
that  we  may  see  the  fulfillment  of  them,  ac- 
cording to  our  need.     We  pray  and  w#it ; 
we  wait  and  pray,     Our  prayers  seem  to 
be  unheard  and  unanswered,  and  we  grow 


56  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

heartsick  and  weary.  What  is  the  trouble  ? 
God  has  provided  the  gift  in  Christ,  and 
is  holding  it  out  to  us  all  the  day  long.  He 
says,  "When  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  re- 
ceive' (or  take,  lit.  translation).  Mark 
xi.  24.  What  more  can  He  do?  He  has 
given,  and  He  is  waiting  for  you  to  take. 
He  would  not  tell  you  to  receive  or  take  if 

He  had  not  already  given  you  power  to 
do  this.  In  one  sense  our  will  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  matter  of  exercising 
faith.  The  line  of  the  old  hymn,  "I  can 
and  I  will  and  I  do  believe,'  is  right  to 
the  point,  and  on  the  line  of  God's  Word. 
I  can,  because  He  would  not  tell  me  to  do 
what  I  cannot;  I  will,  because  God  has 
given  me  my  will  and  expects  me  to  exer- 
cise it  in  the  direction  of  His  truth ;  I  do, 
because  God's,  gifts  are  always  ready  for 
present-tense  faith,  and  as  now  is  God's 
accepted  time,  I  will  also  make  it  my  ac- 
cepted time 


"BELIEVE   THAT   YE   RECEIVE"  57 

But,  you  object,  I  may  be  inclined  to 
"take'  from  the  Lord  something  which  is 
not  His  will  to  give  me,  and  which  if  re- 
ceived would  prove  a  curse  instead  of  a 
blessing.  Let  us  go  to  the  Word  for  light 
on  this  important  point.  Read  again  Mark 
xi.  24 :  "What  things  soever  ye  desire,  when 
ye  pray, ' '  etc.  What  things  are  we  to  be- 
lieve  that  we  take  when  we  pray?  Listen 
to  the  answer:  "What  things  soever  ye 
desire.'  How  precious  to  be  a  child  of  God 
and  capable  of  being  trusted  to  desire  what 
is  His  will  to  give  us,  or  rather,  to  have  His 
Holy  Spirit  work  in  us  His  own  desires. 
What  a  sweet  intimation  of  His  will  in 
prayer  to  feel  His  own  intense  and  holy  de- 
sires springing  up  in  our  hearts,  and  all 
the  time  to  feel  perfectly  without  choice  so 
far  as  our  own  natural  inclinations  are 
concerned.  We  have  no  desire,  we  ask  His 
will,  and  then  we  feel  His  pure,  intense  de- 
sire beginning  to  have  birth  in  our  souls. 
I  Believe  that  we  ought  to  see  more  clear- 


58  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

ly  than  we  have  done  in  the  past  that  His 
will  is  often  communicated  to  us  by  such 
heaven-born  desires.  And  I  do  not  mean 
only  desires  for  spiritual  blessings,  but  for 
all  such  other  things  as  our  Father  knoweth 
we  have  need  of.  He  will  not  only  desire 

!/ 

within  us  that  we  shall  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  all  spiritual  blessings  in 
Christ,  but  He  shall  desire  within  us  all 
such  temporal  good  as  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  make  use  of  for  the  glory  of  Christ.  And 
if  we  have  a  desire  in  prayer  the  source  of 
which  we  are  not  perfectly  sure  of,  we  may 
ask  that  if  it  is  of  God  it  shall  grow  and 
intensify,  and  if  it  is  not  of  God  that  the 
desire  shall  be  entirely  removed  from  us. 

This  thought  of  taking  or  appropriating 
faith  is  also  brought  out  in  the  invitation 
in  Revelation  xxii:17:  "Whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely.'  In 
the  previous  chapter  it  is  written,  "I  will 
give  unto  him  that  is  athirst  of  the  foun- 
tain of  water  of  life  freely'  (Revelation 


"BELIEVE   THAT   YE   RECEIVE"  59 

xxi:6).  ""I  will  give;"  here  is  the  supply: 
"Let  him  take;'1  here  is  our  responsibility 
to  avail  ourselves  of  the  supply.  The  gift 
is  ready.  Do  we  will  to  take  it?  It  is 
freely  given,  and  He  requires  that  we  shall 
' '  take ' '  freely.  Surely  it  is  not  our  tender 
Father's  will  that  we  shall  have  a  stinted 
portion  of  His  bounty.  It  is  unbelief  which 
stints  us.  Shall  we  grieve  Him  longer  by 
refusing  His  gift  ?  Shall  we  not  rather  ask 
and  receive  (literally  take),  that  our  joy 
may  be  full?  (John  xvi.  24). 

Again,  w©  have  the  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus:  "If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come 
unto  Me,  and  drink.'  If  we  thirst,  if  we 
feel  a  deep  sense  of  need,  and  an  inex- 
pressible desire  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  then 
Jesus  invites  us  to  come  and  drink.  This 
thirst  is  in  itself  blessed,  for  it  is  wrought 
in  us  by  God  Himself,  and  He  is  waiting 

to  satisfy  it  with  living  water.  But  the 
thirsty  soul  must  drink.  It  must  exercise 
the  will,  and  by  a  decisive  act  of  faith  re- 


60  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

ceive  the  living  water  so  freely  given.  Then 
shall  there  be  no  lack,  but  rivers  of  living 
water  shall  flow  forth  from  the  innermost 
life.  "But  this  spake  He  of  the  Spirit, 
which  they  that  believe  on  Him  should  re- 
ceive' (John  vii.  39).  I  have  been  im- 
pressed lately  with  the  thought  of  these 
rivers  flowing  from  us.  We  drink  by  an 
effort,  or  act  of  faith,  but  when  the  waters 
flow  from  us  it  is  a  spontaneous  free-out- 
pouring without  effort  on  our  part.  Oh, 
that  the  rivers  of  God's  life  and  blessing 
might  constantly  flow  through  us  as  unob- 
structed channels  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  and  the  refreshing  of  His  heritage ! 
What  hinders?  Only  this,  that  we  do  not 
take,  or  drink,  the  ever  flowing  waters. 

There  are  many  other  texts  which  might 
be  quoted  on  this  line  of  truth.  We  will 
refer  at  present  to  only  one  more.  "He 
breathed  on  them,  and  said  unto  them,  Re- 
ceive (literally  take)  3^6  the  Holy  Ghost' 
(John  xx.  22).  Here  we  have  our  Lord's 


"BELIEVE   THAT   YE   RECEIVE"  61 

direct  command,  and  to  this  command,  as 
to  any  others,  there  must  be  first  the  un- 
qualified assent  of  our  will.  How  many 
times  in  the  face  of  God's  commands  we 
have  hesitated  and  argued,  pleading  our 
own  unworthiness  and  lack  of  faith  as  a 
reason  why  we  cannot  obey  the  command 
to  receive.  But  God  will  not  accept  such 
excuses.  ' '  His  commands  are  His  enab- 
lings.'  He  has  sent  the  Comforter.  The 
Holy  Spirit  has  been  freely  given.  Will 
you  not  freely  receive  Him,  dear  thirsty 
one?  Delay  no  longer.  His  accepted  time 
is  now,  and  this  now  in  the  original  means 
the  present  instant  of  time,  that  tiny  point 
of  time  which  is  just  now  here.  Believe, 
receive,  and  praise  Him.  Resist  the  devil 
with  his  doubts  and  discouraging  sugges- 
tions. Don't  parley  with  him.  Resist  him 
when  you  hear  his  first  word,  and  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  shall  raise  up  a  standard 
against  him.  I  believe  this  is  often  why 
we  lose  the  victory.  After  taking  our  stand 
of  faith  and  receiving  the  promise  in 


62  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Christ's  name,  we  dare  to  listen  to  Satan's 
insinuations.  Resist,  resist  him,  and  he 
shall  flee.  Believe  that  you  receive  (literal- 
ly take)  and  you  shall  have,  and  shall  kno\^ 
the  present  and  eternal  blessedness  of  set- 
ting to  your  seal  that  God  is  true. 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING 


ET  us  look  at  the  5th  chapter  of  I 
John,  beginning  at  the  ninth  verse : 
"If  we  receive  the  witness  of  men, 
the  witness  of  God  is  greater ;  for  this  is 
the  witness  which  He  hath  testified  of  His 
Son ;  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God 
hath  the  witness  in  himself;  he  that  be- 
lieveth not  God  hath  made  Him  a  liar ; 
because  he  believeth  not  the  record  that 
God  gave  of  His  Son. 

I  was  seeking  to  lead  a  sister  to  Christ 
the  other  day;  I  talked  to  her  about  the 
necessity  of  yielding  up  all  to  Jesus,  got 
her  to  the  place  where  she  said  she  would 
and  did  yield  herself  as  a  living  sacrifice 
to  Christ,  thought  it  was  all  settled,  and 
was  astonished  and  grieved  to  hear  her 
say  shortly  after  that  it  was  all  dark  in 


64  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

her  soul,  because,  although  she  had  given 
herself  to  Jesus,  He  had  not  accepted  her. 
I  told  her  that  she  made  God  a  liar  by  not 
believing  that  He  accepted  her,  when  she 
had  met  all  His  conditions.  "He  that  be- 
lieveth  hath  the  witness  in  himself.'  It  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  us  to  believe  that 
God  accepts  us  when  we  come  according  to 
His  will  and  way.  He  says,  "Him  that 
cometh  unto  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.' 
So  when  we  come  through  the  shed  blood 
of  Jesus,  we  must  believe  that  according 
to  His  own  Word  He  does  not  cast  us 
out  but  immediately  receives  us.  If  we  thus 
believe  the  record  that  God  gave  of  His 
Son,  we  have  the  witness  in  our  own  hearts 
that  we  are  saved.  There  may  be  some  peo- 
ple here  today  who  are  refusing  to  be- 
lieve God's  record  of  His  Son.  I  know 
that  this  meeting  is  usually  on  the  line  of 
the  higher  Christian  life,  but  for  some  rea- 
son I  feel  distinctly  led  at  this  time  to 

t/ 

speak  about  salvation  and  about  the  neces- 
sity of  appropriating  Jesus  by  simple  faith. 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING  65 

The  trouble  with  this  young  lady  was,  that 
she  watched  her  own  heart  for  some  won- 
derful emotion  instead  of  believing  God's 
Word. 

Therefore,  she  got  into  awful  darkness. 
This  may  be  the  trouble  with  some  one  here 
today.  You  have  not  believed  that  God 
has  accepted  you  because  of  His  good  Word 
of  promise  which  cannot  fail.  Let  us  read 
the  record  in  the  next  verse,  and  see  what 
God  requires  you  to  believe.  "And  this  is 
the  record,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eter- 
nal life,  and  this  life  is  in  His  Son.' 

Now,  here  is  the  simple  record  that  God 
requires  you  to  believe  unless  you  would 
make  Him  a  liar.  Eternal  life  is  a  gift  that 
cannot  be  earned  by  our  prayers,  or  our 
faith,  or  our  good  works.  This  eternal  life 
is  vested  in  the  great  Gift,  God's  blessed 
Son.  How  this  does  simplify  things !  "He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,  and  he  that 
hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life.' 

If  you  have  accepted  Jesus  as  a  gift,  and 
accepted  eternal  life  in  and  through  Him, 


66  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

then  you  have  eternal  life  abiding  in  you. 
I  suppose  that  most  of  the  dear  friends  here 
are  Christians,  but,  undoubtedly  there  are 
some  in  our  midst  who  do  not  belong  to 
Christ.  I  look  at  you  and  you  all  seem 
to  be  alive,  but  God  looks  down  and  searches 
hearts  with  His  eyes  of  flame,  and  sees  two 
classes.  One  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins, 
and  one  alive  in  Jesus.  If  you  have  Jesus 
you  have  eternal  life ;  if  you  have  not  Jesus 
you  have  no  life  at  all,  and  you  stand  every 
moment  in  danger  of  eternal  damnation.  1 
care  not  what  good  works  you  have  done, 
nor  how  generous  and  philanthropic  you 
have  been,  if  you  have  not  Jesus  abiding  in 
you,  you  have  not  eternal  life. 

And  just  as  we  believe  in  Jesus  for  sal- 
vation we  must  believe  in  Him  for  sancti- 
fication.  As  you  have  taken  Him  simply  at 
His  word  in  order  to  be  saved,  so  you  must 
believe  in  Him  for  sanctification.  You  must 
not  wait  to  feel  the  cleansing,  but  must  be- 
lieve that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  does 
now  cleanse  you  from  all  sin.  (I.  John  i.  7). 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING  67 

I  find  also  in  the  matter  of  physical  healing 
that  I  have  to  take  the  record  in  the  same 
way.  We  read  in  Matt.  viii.  17,  that  ' '  Him- 
self took  our  infirmities  and  bare  our  sick- 
nesses.' If  Jesus  healed  those  people  who 
came  to  Him  in  such  multitudes,  in  order 
to  fulfill  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah  that  He 
had  borne  their  sicknesses,  then  He  will 
heal  me  because  He  has  borne  my  sick- 
'nesses,  for  He  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
I  have  to  believe  the  record  and  to  say  in 
faith,  "Since  Jesus  bore  my  sicknesses  on 
the  Cross  of  Calvary,  therefore  I  need  not 
bear  them,  and  I  am  healed.'  You  will  find 
that  all  of  God's  gifts  are  given  to  faith, 
and  only  to  faith,  and  it  is  only  as  you 
realize  that  they  are  already  yours  through 
Jesus  Christ  that  you  can  have  them  at  all. 
Beloved,  do  you  believe  that  Jesus  has 
borne  your  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the 
tree,  and  that  He  has  borne  them  so  far 
away  from  you  that  they  may  not  only  be 
forgiven,  but  rooted  out  of  your  heart?  We 
read  in  the  third  chapter  of  I.  John : 


68  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

"Whosoever  abideth  in  Him  sinneth  not.' 
Strong  words !  But  they  are  God 's  words, 
What  are  you  going  to  do  with  them?  Do 
you  believe  that  Jesus  is  able  to  keep  you 
from  falling?  Let  Jesus  reign  in  your 
heart,  and  He,  the  Sinless  One,  will  contin- 
ually live  out  His  holiness  in  and  through 
you.  This  blessing  of  sanctiacation  is  a  most 
precious  and  definite  work  of  grace  in  the 
heart,  and  it  is  necessary  that  we  should 
testify  definitely  to  this  blessing  if  we  want 
to  abide  in  such  a  precious  experience. 
With  the  heart  we  believe,  and  with  the 
mouth  we  confess,  as  in  every  other  bless- 
ing. If  you  are  not  willing  to  confess  that 
Jesus  Christ  has  saved  you,  you  have  not 

salvation,  or  have  so  little  that  it  will  all 
leak  away.  When  you  get  sanctified  you 
must  confess  it  as  definitely  as  you  confess 
salvation.  People  have  come  to  me  in  great 
sorrow,  saying,  "I  used  to  have  the  blessing 
of  sanctification,  but  I  have  lost  it.'  And 
when  we  probe  deep  to  find  the  reason,  we 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING  69 

find  very  often  that  it  is  because  of  failure 
to  testify. 

And  it  is  the  same  with  divine  healing. 
If  people  are  not  willing  to  testify  to  the 
healing  power  of  the  Great  Physician,  they 
are  very  apt  to  lose  their  health  again. 
Also,  I  would  warn  you  not  to  wait  for 
certain  feelings  or  emotions  before  you 
testify  to  the  work  which  God  has  wrought 

• 

in  your  heart  or  in  your  body.  'Faith  is 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen, ' '  and  if  we 
really  believe  God's  Word  we  shall  not  be 
afraid  to  stand  upon  it,  and  to  tell  all  the 
world  of  its  truth.  Are  you  not  willing  to 
believe  absolutely  God 's  Word,  and  to  count 
it  worth  more  than  any  flitting  emotion? 
You  must  first  stand  upon  God's  truth,  and 
God's  Holy  Spirit  will  then  come  and  wit- 
ness to  that  truth.  God  will  give  you  plenty 
of  feeling  sooner  or  later,  but  He  first  re- 
quires you  to  stand  upon  His  naked  Word. 
Let  us  look  at  the  next  verse  in  this 
passage:  "These  things  have  I  written 
unto  you  that  believe  on  the  name  of  the 


70  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Son  of  God ;  that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have 
eternal  life,  and  that  ye  may  believe  on 
the  name  of  the  Son  of  God.'  That  ye 
may  know,  not  think  so,  with  some  degree 
of  certainty,  not  guess  so,  or  hope  so,  but 
that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have  eternal  life. 
How  many  here  know  this  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  doubt?  You  may  all  know  to- 
day by  believing  God's  record  of  His  Son, 
And  when  we  are  assured  of  our  salvation, 
we  get  confidence  and  power  in  prayer 
(verses  14  and  15).  "And  this  is  the 
confidence  that  we  have  in  Him,  that  if  we 
ask  anything  according  to  His  will  He 
heareth  us;  and  if  we  know  that  He  hear 
us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we 
have  the  petitions  that  we  desired  of  Him. ' 
Praise  God !  That  is  a  tig  bank  note  for 
us  today  of  priceless  value.  This  check  is 
unlimited.  I  can  put  them  in  to  the  extent 
of  heaven's  fulness,  if  only  I  have  the  faith 
to  do  it.  How  rich  this  makes  me  feel !  I 
may  ask  whatever  I  will,  but,  oh,  how  sweet 
to  realize  that  as  we  abide  in  Him,  we  de- 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING  71 

sire  only  His  will,  and  that  we  are  not  in 
the  least  danger  of  asking  anything  that  He 
would  not  like  to  give  us.  As  we  wait  upon 
Him,  He  creates  in  us  His  own  prayer  and 
then  works  in  us  His  own  faith.  I  am  so 
glad  that  we  do  not  have  to  ask  according 
to  our  own  feeble  understanding,  but  that 
"we  -have  the  mind  of  Christ,'  and  He 
thinks  so  much  greater  thoughts  of  blessing 
for  us  than  ever  it  would  be  possible  for  us 
to  think  for  ourselves.  How  He  surprises 
us  with  His  bounty !  Not  half  the  kingdom, 
but  the  whole  of  it.  "Fear  not,  little  flock, 
it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give 
you  the  kingdom.'  Will  you  not  please 
Him  by  accepting  it?  (verse  18).  "We 
know  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God  sinneth 
not ;  but  he  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth 
himself,  and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him 
not.'  This  book  of  I.  John  is  full  of  the 
word  "know.'  Here  we  have  another 
precious  word  about  sanctification.  Why 
is  it  that,  as  one  preacher  said,  so  many 
sinners  get  saved  when  he  is  preaching 


72  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

about  saiictification  ?  Because  sinners  read- 
ily see  the  consistency  of  such  a  life. 

So  many  have  been  stumbled  because 
they  have  seen  the  inconsistent  walk  of 
those  who  call  themselves  by  the  name  of 
Christ.  It  is  absolutely  necessary,  if  we 
would  glorify  God,  for  us  to  take  the  pro- 
vision of  His  holiness  that  He  has  wrought 
for  us  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  does  not  glorify 
God  for  you  to  give  a  sweet  testimony  in  a 
prayer  meeting  and  then  go  home  and  be 
disagreeable  and  irritable  to  those  around 
you.  Unbelievers  would  soon  say,  ' '  I  would 
not  like  to  be  such  a  Christian  as  you.  I 
would  rather  be  none  at  all. ' 

But  when  they  see  your  life  lived  out  as 
an  epistle  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  they  see  you 
always  patient,  always  lovable  and  gentle, 
then  there  is  a  reality  in  your  Christian  life 
that  makes  other  people  irresistibly  drawn 
by  the  cords  of  Jesus'  love  right  to  His 
very  heart.  0  beloved,  will  you  not  trust 
Jesus  to  guard  you  round  about  with  the 
armor  of  His  holiness  and  perfect  love? 


BELIEVING  AND  RECEIVING  73 

The  chapter  closes  with  these  words :  ' '  Lit- 
tle children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols.' 
That  is,  keep  yourselves  from  everything 
and  from  everyone  that  you  could  possibly 
love  or  prefer  before  God.  Let  Jesus  have 
the  first  place.  Let  Him  reign  in  your  will 
and  affections  and  you  will  know  His  holi- 
ness. You  will  know  what  it  is  to  sweetly 
abide  in  Him,  to  have  His  continual  com- 
fort and  blessing,  and  to  be  yourself  a  bless- 
ing to  everyone  around  you. 


"ONLY  BELIEVE" 

RUE  faith  counts  on  God,  and  be- 
lieves before  it  sees.  In  Mark 
(xi.  24)  we  are  commanded  to  be- 
lieve that  we  receive  when  we  pray.  Nat- 
urally we  want  to  have  some  evidence  that 
our  petition  is  granted  before  we  believe, 
but  when  we  walk  by  faith  we  need  no  other 
evidence  than  God's  Word.  He  has  spoken, 
and  according  to  our  faith  it  shall  be  done 
unto  us.  We  shall  see  because  we  have 
believed,  and  this  faith  sustains  us  in  the 
most  trying  places,  when  everything  around 
us  seems  to  contradict  God's  Word. 

The  Psalmist  says,  ' '  I  had  fainted  unless 
I  had  believed  to  see  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living'  (Ps.  xxvii. 
13).  He  did  not  see  as  yet  the  Lord's 
answer  to  his  prayers,  but  ' '  he  believed  to 
see, ' '  and  this  kept  him  from  fainting. 


"ONLY   BELIEVE"  75 

If  we  have  the  faith  that  believes  to  see, 
it  will  keep  us,  likewise,  from  growing  faint 
and  discouraged.  We  shall  "laugh  at  im- 
possibilities,' we  shall  watch  with  delight 
,to  see  how  God  is  going  to  open  up  a  path 
through  the  Red  Sea  when  there  is  no 

« 

human  way  out  of  our  difficulties.  It  is 
just  in  such  places  of  severe  testing  that 
our  faith  grows  and  strengthens.  We  ask 
God  to  increase  our  faith.  We  are  not 
prepared  for  the  answer  which  comes,  in 
the  shape  of  increased  difficulties,  until,  like 
Paul,  we  sometimes  feel  we  are  'pressed 
out  of  measure,  beyond  our  strength,  inso- 
much that  we  despair  even  of  life' '  (II  Cor. 
i.  8).  The  mountains  rise  before  us,  the 
seas  roar,  and  we  are  brought  into  straits 
we  never  dreamed  of.  We  see  no  way  of 
escape ;  human  resources  avail  nothing ; 
and  there,  with  no  visible  help  on  the  right 
hand  or  left,  we  learn  to  look  up,  to  lift  our 
eyes  to  the  God  who  made  heaven  and 
earth,  and  who  can  move  all  adverse  condi- 
tions to  our  help. 


76  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

In  Psalm  xviii,  we  have  such  a  beautiful 
picture  of  the  way  God's  compassion  is 
moved  upon  at  our  cry.  The  Psalmist  tells 
us  (verses  4  and  5)  of  the  " sorrows  of 
death'  and  "the  floods  of  ungodly  men' 
which  made  him  "afraid.'  Then  he  says, 
"In  my  distress  I  ....  cried  unto  my 
God ;  He  heard  my  voice  out  of  His  tem- 
ple, and  my  cry  came  before  Him,  even 
into  His  ears.'  Now,  what  happens  when 
He  hears  that  cry  of  distress  from  His  lit- 
tle one  ?  O,  how  His  heart  is  moved ! 
'  Then  the  earth  shook  and  trembled ;  the 
foundations  also  of  the  hills  moved  and 
were  shaken  because  He  was  wroth  .  .  . 
He  bowed  the  heavens  also  and  came 
down.'  Then  follows  a  description  of  the 
majesty  and  swiftness  of  His  approach 
toward  His  distressed  one:  "And  He  rode 
upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly ;  yea,  He  did 
fly  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind.'  We  read 
of  the  thunder,  hailstones,  lightning,  and 
coals  of  fire  with  which  He  "discomfited' 
His  enemies.  Then  the  result:  "He  sent 


"ONLY  BELIEVE"  77 

from  above,  He  took  me,  He  drew  me  out 
of  many  waters.  He  delivered  me  from 
my  strong  enemy.  He  brought  me  forth 
also  into  a  large  place ;  He  delivered  me 
because  He  delighted  in  me.'  How  can 
we  doubt  His  love  ?  He  is  watching  us  in 
the  hard  places.  He  will  not  allow  a  trial 
too  many;  He  will  only  let  the  dross  be 
consumed,  and  then  He  will  come  glor- 
iously to  our  help.  Even  now  your  cry 
has  entered  into  His  ears,  and  He  is  pre- 
paring to  deliver  you.  His  compassion 
longs  to  set  you  free ;  His  love  will  de- 
light in  your  deliverance,  for  He  is  more 
tender  than  any  earthly  parent.  Do  not 
grieve  Him  by  doubting  His  love.  Listen 
to  His  words  to  Daniel :  ' i  From  the  first 
day  that  thou  didst  set  thine  heart  to  un- 
derstand, and  to  chasten  thyself  before 
thy  God,  thy  words  were  heard ; ' '  yet  there 
had  been  a  delay  of  three  weeks,  while  the 
enemy  had  sought  to  hinder  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  from  making  his  way  to  Daniel's 
help. 


78  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

You  have  been  waiting  upon  God,  dear 
troubled  one,  during  long  nights  and  weary 
days,  and  have  perhaps  feared  you  were 
forgotten.  Nay,  lift  up  your  head,  and 
begin  to  praise  Him  even  now  for  the  de- 
liverance which  is  on  its  wav  to  vou.  From 

*/  *' 

"the  first  day'  that  you  began  to  humble 
yourself  at  His  feet,  and  to  call  upon  Him, 
He  took  notice  of  your  prayer,  and  has 
been  preparing  you  to  receive  a  gracious 
answer. 

If  your  all  is  on  God's  altar,  and  your 
petition  is  in  accordance  with  God's  re- 
vealed will  in  His  word,  you  may  'be- 
lieve that  you  receive'  when  you  pray. 
Seek  the  help  of  theHoly  Spirit  in  prayer 
and  He  will  pray  within  you  ' '  the  effectual 
fervent  prayer'  that  "availeth  much.' 
And  it  often  avails  much  more  than  we 
have  even  asked  or  thought,  so  that  we 
are  abundantly  rewarded  for  the  delay 
which  has  tried  our  faith.  God  'calleth 
those  things  which  be  not  as  though  they 
were,"  and  Abraham  was  made  "like  unto 


"ONLY  BELIEVE"  79 

Him  whom  he  believed'  (Romans  iv.  17, 
margin)  in  this  respect.  And  as  we  learn 
to  "walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our 
father  Abraham/  we  too  shall  be  able  to 
call  those  things  which  be  not  as  though 
they  were.  Turning  resolutely  away  from 
what  we  see  to  contradict  our  faith,  we 
shall  believe,  because  we  are  looking  at 
the  things  not  seen  (II.  Cod.  iv.  18),  the 
real,  eternal  truths  of  our  unchangeable, 
covenant-keeping  God. 

So  shall  we  receive  according  to  our 
faith,  and  glorify  Him  as  the  Hearer  and 
Answerer. of  prayer. 


A  LIFE  ON  WINGS 


ND  I  said,  Oh,  that  I  had  wings 
like  a  dove !  For  then  would  I  fly 
away  and  be  at  rest.' 
This  plaintive  cry  is  from  the  lips  of 
King  David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel,  and 
we  find  it  recorded  in  the  55th  Psalm,  6th 
verse.  The  two  previous  verses  describe 
his  heart-sorrow  and  unrest.  "My  heart 
is  sore  pained  within  me ;  and  the  terrors 
of  death  are  fallen  upon  me.  Fearfulness 
and  trembling  are  come  upon  me,  and  hor- 
ror hath  overyhelmed  me.' 

In  the  midst  of  this  sad  experience  comes 
the  desire  for  a  better  life,  a  higher  life,  a 
holier  life  than  he  had  ever  yet  known. 
With  great  pathos  and  longing  he  then 
cries,  ' '  Oh,  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove ! ' 
'  I  would  hasten  my  escape  from  the  windy 
storm  and  tempest.'  This  cry  of  David 
voices  the  longing  of  unsatisfied  souls  in 


A  LIFE   ON  WINGS  81 

all  ages,  and  even  today,  in  this  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  you  will  still  find 
here  and  there,  among  all  denominations 
of  Christians,  this  cry  uttered  by  sorrow- 
ing and  yearning  souls.  They  belong  to 
Christ,  and  yet  there  is  a  divided  heart. 
Somewhat  of  self  is  left,  and  consequently 
there  is  unrest.  Because  they  are  not  en- 
tirely anchored  in  God,  they  are  oppressed 
and  perplexed  by  care  and  anxiety,  they 
bear  their  own  burdens  instead  of  casting 
them  upon  the  Lord,  and  their  souls  be- 
come so  weary  and  sorrowful  that  they 
long  to  fly  away — away — into  the  wilder- 
ness and  be  at  rest. 

Beloved,  are  you  thus  longing  to  fly 
away  ?  It  is  the  blessed  Spirit  of  God  put- 
ting that  desire  into  your  heart.  But  He 
knows  that  earthly  wings  would  not  do  3rou 
any  good.  You  could  not  fly  far  enough 
with  them  to  get  away  from  your  troubles. 
Your  own  heart,  with  all  its  aches  and 
burdens,  would  still  be  with  you,  though 
you  would  fly  to  the  farthest  bounds  of  the 


82  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

world,  or  take  refuge  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea.  It  is  the  Holy  Ghost  who 
is  making  you  cry  out  for  spiritual  wings 
that  shall  lift  you  out  of  yourself,  and 
above  all  the  cares  and  sorrows  of  the 
crawling  existence  you  have  hitherto 
known.  The  blessed  Spirit  has  the  wings 
all  ready  for  you,  and  He  will  teach  you 
how  to  use  them.  There  is  a  wonderful 
description  of  this  wing  life  in  Deut.  xxxii. 
11.  What  a  picture  is  this  of  the  eagle, 
and  it  is  true  to  life.  When  the  little 
eaglets  will  not  fly,  when  they  shrink  back 
from  the  yawning  precipice,  and  refuse  to 
use  their  wings,  then  the  mother  eagle 
"stirreth  up  her  nest.'  She  knows  that  the 
nest  is  too  cramped,  and  the  young  eagles 
have  no  room  to  grow.  A  minister  was 
an  eye  witness  to  such  a  scene  as  is  de- 
scribed here.  He  had  climbed  to  a  neigh- 
boring mountain  crag,  and  he  saw  the 
mother  eagle,  with  her  strong  beak,  tear  in 
pieces  the  nest  in  which  the  little  ones  had 
reposed  so  long.  Then,  one  by  one,  she 


A  LIFE   ON  WINGS  83 

pushed  them  off  the  crag,  balancing  her- 
self beneath  them  to  catch  them  as  they 
fell.  She  "spreadeth  abroad  her  wings, 
taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings,' 
and  the  Word  adds,  applying  the  illustra- 
tion to  Jacob,  "So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead 
him,  and  there  was  no  strange  god  with 
him.  He  made  him  ride  on  the  high  places 
of  the  earth.' 

Dear  ones,  is  this  the  way  that  God  has 
been  dealing  with  you?  Has  He  been 
tearing  up  your  nest,  breaking  up  that 
reposeful  place  which  you  had  made  for 
yourself,  and  in  which  you  expected  to 
stay  all  your  life?  He  wants  to  force 
you  out  of  that  poor,  narrow  nest  which 
was  cramping  your  wings,  that  He  may 
teach  you  to  fly  abroad  through  the  clear, 
sweet  atmosphere  of  His  unbounded  grace, 
singing  His  praise.  Fear  not  to  venture 
on  God,  for  the  Everlasting  Arms  are  un- 
derneath you,  and  shall  bear  you  up  as  on 
eagle 's  pinions.  The  little  eaglet  can  fall 
nowhere  except  upon  its  mothers'  wings. 


84  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Beloved,  can  you  not  trust  your  Father's 
love  ?  Do  not  look  at  the  black  gulf  which 
yawns  below  you,  but  consider  the  strength 
of  the  Everlasting  Arms  which  are  ready 
to  catch  you  if  you  falter  or  fall.  Then 
use  your  wings  bravely,  mount  up  and 
soar  onward  and  sunward,  higher  and  still 
higher,  for  it  is  God's  promise  to  you, 
"They  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  ea- 
gles.' May  God  give  the  wonderful  peace 
and  joy  of  this  wing-life  to  each  of  you  !  He 
gave  it  to  me  some  time  ago,  and  I  have 
never  lost  the  comfort  of  its  blessed  reality. 
He  taught  me  to  mount  up  by  simple 
faith.  He  taught  me  that  I  must  reckon 
myself  dead  indeed  to  sin  and  alive  to 
God,  and  as  I  reckoned  this  to  be  true,  on 
the  authority  of  God's  word,  He  made  the 
reckonings  of  faith  real  to  me.  He  came 
to  live  within  me  and  to  live  out  through 
me  His  own  purity,  so  that  I  got  free  from 
the  old  self-life  by  mounting  up  on  the 
wings  of  His  holiness.  But  I  wanted  not 
only  purity  but  power.  There  is  a  baptism 


A  LIFE   ON   WINGS  85 

of  the  Holy  Spirit's  power  which  can  make 
the  feeblest  human  instrumentalities  filled 
with  heavenly  dynamite,  and  I  longed  for 
it.  I  had  been  so  useless  all  the  past  years 
of  my  Christian  life,  never  testifying  for 
Him  and  not  leading  one  soul  to  Christ, 
but,  oh,  when  I  surrendered  to  God  in  ab- 
solute consecration,  He  filled  me  in  over- 
flowing measure  with  His  Spirit  of  power. 
When  the  heart  is  so  full  it  must  run  over, 
and  mine  has  been  running  over  in  testi- 
mony ever  since. 

Beloved,  have  you  these  eagle  wings? 
Have  you  waited  on  the  Lord  with  a  per- 
fect consecration  and  an  earnest  expecta- 
tion of  receiving  them?  Are  you  dead, 
and  is  your  "life  hid  with  Christ  in  God  I '' 
Can  you  say,  "Not  I  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me?'  If  you  live  no  longer,  and  Christ 
alone  lives  in  you,  He  will  meet  and  over- 
come temptation  for  you  at  every  point. 
As  long  as  the  self-life  continues,  I  shall 
yield  more  or  less  to  doubt  and  sin,  but 
with  self  crucified,  and  Jesus  reigning,  my 


86  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Strong  Deliverer  repels  every  foe.  May 
God  search  your  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
You  know  whether  this  experience  is  true 
of  you  or  not.  You  may  rise  in  a  meeting 
and  give  a  happy  testimony,  but  you  know 
whether  this  is  your  testimony,  all  the  day 
long.  You  know  in  your  own  conscious- 
ness whether  or  not  you  are  soaring  on 
wings  above  all  your  daily  cares.  Even 
after  my  sins  were  forgiven  I  used  to  fret 
and  worry.  I  used  to  believe  that  some 
things  worked  together  for  my  good,  but 
now  I  know  that  all  things  do.  The  lives 
of  some  Christians  are  filled  with  regrets 
and  remorse,  but  in  this  wonderful  wing- 
life  there  can  be  no  regret.  "As  many  as 
are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  they  are  the 
sons  of  God.'  We  trust  Him  to  lead  us, 
and  believe  He  does  lead  us,  and  therefore 
we  need  never  look  backward  with  regret. 
God  will  take  away  from  your  heart  all 
selfishness,  and  you  will  not  think  so 
much  about  getting  joy  in  your  heart  as 
to  give  joy  to  the  heart  of  Jesus.  You 


A  LIFE   ON  WINGS  87 

will  seek  not  your  own  honor,  but  His 
honor.  You  are  not  your  own.  You  are 
espoused  to  Christ,  and  if  you  belong  to 
Him  entirely,  you  will  never  take  yourself 
back  again  long  enough  to  give  yourself  to 

« 

Him  over  again.  Will  you  not  this  very 
moment  yield  yourself  unreservedly  to 
Christ,  determined  by  His  grace  nevermore 
to  live  the  old  life,  and  never  lose  your 
wings  ? 


PRAYING  AND  NOT 
FAINTING 


"And  He  spake  a  parable  unto  them  to  this  end,  that 
men  ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint."  Luke 
xviii.  1. 


HIS  sounds  so  tender  and  sweet, 
doesn't  it?  The  dear  Lord  knows 
how  apt  we  are  to  "faint  in  the  day 
of  adversity > ' '  and  so  He  gives  us  a  parable 
to  this  very  end,  that  when  the  answers  to 
prayer  seem  delayed,  and  the  troubles  grow 
thicker  and  blacker,  we  are  to  keep  on  pray- 
ing and  believing  and  "not  to  faint.'  The 
very  time  when  the  enemy  tries  hardest 
to  make  us  faint,  is  when  we  have  prayed 
and  watched  and  waited,  and  the  Lord  has 
not  seemed  to  hear  our  cry  at  all.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  some  one  who  will  read  these 
lines  feels  just  this  very  temptation  today, 
and  it  is  to  you.  dear  one,  that  Jesus  speaks 
in  this  parable,  to  the  end  that  you  may  not 


PRAYING  AND   NOT  FAINTING  89 

faint.  You  know  the  story  so  well,  but  let 
us  review  it  together,  and  may  the  Holy 
Spirit  make  the  application  of  its  tender 
truth  to  your  weary,  wavering  heart. 

The  judge  was  a  'godless,  heartless,  cruel 
man.  The  one  who  plead  with  him  for  jus- 
tice was  a  poor  widow  helpless  and  alone. 
"He  would  not  for  awhile.'  We  can  im- 
agine the  anxious  watching  and  waiting, 
the  eager  longing  and  expectancy  of  this 
poor  woman  as  day  after  day  passed  by  and 
still  the  delay.  But  afterward  he  said, 
"Though  I  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man, 
yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  1 
will  avenge  her,  lest  by  her  continual 
coming  she  weary  me.'  Out  of  purely  sel- 
fish considerations,  lest  he  should  be  wear- 
ied by  her  constant  visits,  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  her,  he  grants  the  poor  widow's  plea. 

Now,  dear  one,  this  parable  is  one  of 
strong  contrast.  "Hear  what  the  unjust 
judge  saith, '  but  our  God  is  the  righteous 
Judge,  and  shall  He  not  "avenge  His  own 
elect,  which  cry  day  and  night  unto  Him  ? ' 


90  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

This  unjust  judge  says,  "This  widow 
troubleth  me.'  But  our  blessed  Father, 
God,  never  counts  it  a  trouble  to  have  us 
come  to  Him,  but  invites  us  in  hundreds 
of  different  ways,  in  tenderest  strains  of 
love,  to  come  unto  Him,  to  cast  our  burden 
upon  Him,  to  cast  all  our  care  upon  Him, 
because  He  careth  for  us.  The  unjust  judge 
answers  tardily  and  unwillingly ;  it  is  said 
of  the  righteous  Judge,  "I -tell  you  that  He 
will  avenge  them  speedily.' 

"But,'  you  answer,  "He  has  not  an- 
swered speedily  in  my  case.  I  have  prayed 
and  waited  and  watched  for  many  a  year, 
and  still  the  answer  has  not  come.'  Dear 
one,  is  there  not  a  ray  of  light  in  the  words, 
"Though  He  bear  long  with  them"1?  Has 
He  not  had  long  to  bear  with  your  unbe- 
lief, because  in  your  heart  you  have  not 
really  understood  His  character?  You 
have  thought  in  your  secret  heart  that  He 
was  a  little  like  that  unjust  judge  who  had 
to  be  importuned  and  wearied  into  answer- 
ing your  petition.  Have  you  not  been 


PRAYING  AND   NOT  FAINTING  91 

taking   your    position  as  a  poor  "widow,' 
alone   and   defenseless,   instead   of  coming 
up  to  your  privileges  as  the  Bride  of  the 
King,   knowing  that   all  things   are  yours 

t 

because  you  are  Christ's?  He  has  had  to 
bear  long  with  you  because  of  this,  and 
yet  as  soon  as  you  let  Him  conquer  all 
these  difficulties,  the  answer  shall  come 
"speedily.'  But  praise  God  that  He  has 
been  willing  to  bear  with  us  through  all 
our  slowness  of  heart  to  believe.  Praise 
Him  that  He  has  kept  us  from  fainting, 
and  has  enabled  us  to  pray  in  a  lesser  de- 
gree of  faith  even  before  we  could  reach 
up  to  the  high  altitude  of  victorious  faith 
described  in  Mark  xi.  24 :  "What  things 
soever  ye  desire  when  ye  pray,  believe  that 
ye  receive  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them.' 

It  seems  somewhat  remarkable  that  right 
in  the  midst  of  penning  this  article  news 
should  be  brought  me  which  comes  as  a 
most  beautiful  and  wonderful  answer  to 
prayer,  and  which  has  been  delayed  for 
nearly  three  years. 


92  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

In  April,  1894,  I  was  led  after  prayer 
to  make  definite  claim  of  faith,  standing  on 
the  promise  in  Mark  xi.  24,  and  believing 
that  I  then  and  there  received,  for  the 
Lord's  own  glory  and  for  the  furthering 
of  His  cause  and  kingdom,  this  request 
made  in  His  name.  The  trial  of  faith  in 
the  matter  has  been  long,  but  the  Lord 
has  kept  me  from  fainting,  and  has  beau- 
tifully sustained  my  faith  when  tempted 
to  waver.  I  have  the  little  paper  now  be- 
fore me,  and  in  addition  to  the  first  date 
of  April  29,  '94,  when  it  was  drawn  up 
and  signed  on  my  knees,  it  bears  two  other 
dates.  On  each  of  these,  viz.,  October  30, 
1895,  and  August  6,  1896,  I  have  writ- 
ten, ' '  Still  trusting. '  And  now,  today,  the 
manifest  answer  to  that  petition  is  at  hand, 
and  I  praise  Him  with  joyful  lips,  but  J 
believe  that  my  praise  of  faith  during  these 
three  long  years  of  waiting  has  perhaps 
glorified  Him  more  than  any  praise  I  can 
offer  today. 

Has  your  hope  been  deferred,  dear  child 


PRAYING  AND   NOT  FAINTING  93 

of  God,  and  is  your  heart  sick  and  faint? 
Fear  not.  He  who  faint eth  not,  neither 
is  weary,  doth  give  power  to  the  faint, 
and  He  will  empower  you  to  trust  Him 
with  renewed  confidence  as  you  lean  your 
whole  weight  upon  His  might  and  love. 

The  Psalmist  says,  "  I  had  fainted  un- 
less I  had  believed  to  see  the  goodness  of 
the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living'  (Psalm 
xxvii.  13.)  Many  people  are  trying  to  see 
in  order  to  believe.  This  is  reversing  God's 
order,  and  will  cause  them  to  faint  and 
lose  heart.  But  the  Psalmist  gives,  as  a 
reason  for  not  fainting,  that  he  '*  believed 
to  see,'  that  is,  he  believes  first  and  ex- 
pects to  see  afterwards. 

Let  us  no  longer  grieve  His  loving  heart 
by  limiting  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  but  let 
us  pray  and  believe  and  rest  fully  expect 
from  the  Lord,  and  "not  faint.' 


GREAT  FAITH  AND  LITTLE 

FAITH 


N  God's  Word  we  have  examples 
given  us  of  great  faith  and  of  little 
faith.  Let  us  consider  some  of  these 
passages  and  note  the  characteristics  of  lit- 
tle faith  and  of  great  faith. 

In  Matt.  xiv.  31,  we  read  that  our  Lord 
said  to  Peter,  ' '  0  thou  of  little  faith,  where- 
fore didst  thou  doubt?'  It  would  seem  at 
first  like  a  great  step  of  faith  to  leave  the 
comparative  safety  of  the  little  boat  to  walk 
out  upon  the  tempestuous  waves  of  the 
stormy  sea.  But  Jesus  called  Peter's  faith 
a  "little  faith."  "Why  was  this?  Because 
"when  he  saw  the  wind  boisterous  he  was 
afraid. '  Little  faith  takes  its  eye  off  from 
Jesus  to  look  at  circumstances.  Little  faith 
trembles  if  circumstances  seem  unfavor- 
able. Little  faith  has  an  element  of  doubt 


GREAT   FAITH   AND   LITTLE   FAITH  95 

mixed  with  it.  Little  faith  may  make  a 
good  beginning,  but  does  not  hold  out,  and, 
therefore,  in  the  midst  of  its  walk  on  the 
sea  begins  to  sink. 

But,  however  weak  Peter's  faith  was,  it 
is  noticeable  that  "he  walked  on  the  water 
to  go  to  Jesus  '  That  walk  on  the  stormy 
sea  had  Jesus  as  its  goal.  Over  stormy 
waves  and  through  turbulent  winds,  Peter 
aimed  "to  go  to  Jesus.'  And  the  dear 
Master  knew  this  well,  so  when  He  saw 
Peter's  little-  faith  giving  out,  and  heard 
his  cry  of  distress,  He  was  quickly  at  his 
side,  holding  him  up  in  His  strong  tender 
grasp.  So,  dear  timid  one  of  little  faith, 
if  in  your  stormy  walk  your  one  aim  is  "to 
go  to  Jesus'  and  to  realize  the  fulness  of 
His  power  and  love,  be  assured  He  will  not 
fail  you.  He  will  bear  with  the  little  faith 
until  it  has  increased  to  the  great  faith 
which  pleases  and  honors  Him. 

How  comforting  is  the  thought  that  at 
Peter's  cry  of  fear  the  Lord  "immediately 


96  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

stretched  forth  His  hand  and  caught  him, ' 
and  this  too  before  He  asked  the  question, 
"0  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst 
thou  doubt  ? '  When  we  cry  to  Jesus,  even 
in  fear  and  partial  distrust,  He  is  im- 
mediately near  us  to  help  and  reassure. 
The  question  asked  of  Peter  remains  in 
the  Word  an  unanswered  one.  Evidently 
Peter  made  no  reply,  except  with  the  other 
disciples  to  worship  Him  as  the  Son  of 
God.  Surely  what  reason  could  there  be 
for  doubting  with  the  Sovereign  of  wind 
and  wave  so  close  at  hand?  But  Peter 
had  failed  to  catch  the  inspiration  of  the 
Saviour's  words  uttered  just  before,  'It 
is  I ;  be  not  afraid, '  and  so  he  had  dis- 
obeyed the  tender  command,  and  had  been 
afraid  after  all.  Oh,  how  dull  of  spiritual 
vision  are  we  who,  like  Peter,  apprehend 
the  power  of  surrounding  circumstances 
more  than  we  do  the  power  of  the  Son  of 
God !  But  the  day  came  at  last  when,  by 
the  infilling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Peter's 
"little  faith"  was  changed  into  "great 


GREAT  FAITH  AND   LITTLE   FAITH  97 

faith, ' '  and  he  could  bid  the  lame  man  at 
the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  temple  to  arise 
and  walk  in  the  name  of  Him  whose  strong 
upholding  he  had  experienced  in  the  toss- 
ing wave.  Beloved,  press  on  through  doubts 
and  fears  until  the  inspiration  of  the 
blessed  Spirit,  through  your  fully  surren- 
dered will,  shall  work  a  mighty  faith  which 
shall  command  the  mountains  to  be  re- 
moved for  His  glory. 

In  Matt.  viii.  26,  we  again  hear  Jesus 
saying,  "Why  are  ye  fearful,  0  ye  of  little 
faith  ? ' '  The  ' '  great  tempest ' '  had  sudden- 
ly arisen  on  the  sea,  so  that  the  ship  was 
covered  with  the  waves,  but  Jesus  was 
asleep.  The  terrified  disciples  awoke  Him 
with  the  cry,  "Lord,  save  us;  we  perish.' 
In  the  majesty  of  His  almightiness  the 
Master  "arose  and  rebuked  the  winds  and 
the  sea,  and  there  was  a  great  calm.'  Oh, 
the  unspeakable  calm  which  comes  to 
tempest-tossed  souls  when  Jesus  arises  to 
deliver,  and  His  voice  is  heard  quieting 
the  adverse  circumstances  which  threaten 


98  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

to  overwhelm !  But  in  the  midst  of  such 
a  calm  how  often  we  have  wondered  with 
shame  and  sorrow  why  we  have  been  so 
fearful  and  why  our  faith  has  been  so 
small.  In  this  lesson  we  see  again  that 
fear  is  a  sign  of  little  faith. 

In  Matt.  xvi.  8,  Jesus  says  to  His  disci- 
ples, "0  ye  of  little  faith,  why  reason  ye 
among  yourselves?'  Here  we  see  that  an- 
other accompaniment  of  little  faith  is  rea- 
son. Great  faith  does  not  reason  things 
out.  It  blindly  follows  the  Lord ;  that  is, 
it  obeys  God  without  regard  to  conse- 
quences. Perfect  faith  does  not  judge 
after  the  sight  of  the  eyes  nor  the  hearing 
of  the  ears.  It  fears  not,  doubts  not,  and 
reasons  not.  It  has,  however,  one  supreme 
reason  for  its  course  of  action ;  that  is,  God 
has  spoken.  When  God's  Word  is  contra- 
dicted by  all  that  appeals  to  natural  sight 
and  sense,  still  faith  wavers  not.  It  de- 
liberately refuses  to  believe  contradictory 
circumstances  and  depends  alone  on  God's 
unchanging  Word. 


GREAT  FAITH  AND  LITTLE   FAITH  99 

In  Luke  xii.  28,  little  faith  is  again  re- 
ferred to  in  these  words :  "  If  then  God  so 
clothe  the  grass,  which  is  today  in  the  field, 
and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the  oven ;  how 
much  more  will  He  clothe  you,  0  ye  of  lit- 
tle faith?'  Then  is  added  the  admonition, 
not  to  be  occupied  in  seeking  after  things 
to  eat  and  drink,  because  our  Father  know- 
eth  that  we  have  need  of  these  things.  The 
words,  "Neither  be  ye  of  doubtful  mind,' 
are  translated  in  the  margin,  "Live  not  in 
careful  suspense.'  Little  faith  is  full  of 
suspense  and  anxiety  in  regard  to  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  things.  Great  faith  is 
always  perfectly  restful,  dropping  all  anx- 
ious care  "because  He  careth.'  Great  faith 
seeks  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness  in  every  thought  and  move, 
and  therefore  it  finds  all  necessary  things 
added.  It  is  a  delight  to  watch  the  sweet 
providence  of  God  in  directing  and  shap- 
ing our  temporal  affairs  while  we  are  oc- 
cupied with  the  matters  pertaining  to  His 
kingdom., 


100  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

During  all  trials  of  faith  and  seeming 
losses,  He  provides  for  each  need  at  just 
the  right  moment,  and  in  such  a  way  as 
shows  His  blessed  hand  most  clearly.  He 
keeps  before  us  a  continual  revelation  of 
His  watch-care  over  us,  and  keeps  us,  in 
the  sweetest  ways  possible,  in  touch  with 
His  never-failing  love. 

There  are  two  notable  cases  of  great  faith 
recorded  in  the  Gospels;  one  is  the  centu- 
rion's faith  and  the  other  that  of  the  Ca- 
naanitish  woman.  From  these  let  us  see 
the  characteristics  of  great  faith.  See 
Luke  vii.  2-9.  Great  faith  is  always  hum- 
ble. The  elders  of  the  Jews  had  told  Jesus 
that  the  centurion  was  "worthy,'  for  he 
"loveth  our  nation,  and  he  hath  built  us  a 
synagogue.'  But  when  Jesus  was  near  the 
house,  the  centurion  sent  friends  to  Him 
saying  that  he  was  neither  worthy  to  come 
to  Jesus  nor  to  have  Him  come  under  his 
roof.  Great  faith  always  takes  this  posi- 
tion, "I  am  not  worthy,'  but  it  bases 
its  plea  on  the  great  foundation,  "Worthy 


GREAT   FAITH  AND   LITTLE   FAITH  101 

is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain.'  (Rev.  v.  12.) 
The  centurion's  faith  was  so  great  that  it 
did  not  demand  any  sign  or  wonder,  not 
even  the  visible  presence  of  Jesus,  but  he 
said,  "Speak  the  word  only,  and  my  serv- 
ant shall  be  healed.'  How  sad  it  is  that 
when  the  word  of  promise  has  been  so.  abun- 
dantly spoken  unto  us,  our  faith  is  so  small 
that  we  are  ever  requiring  signs  and  won- 
ders before  we  will  believe. 

We  get  the  same  lesson  of  humility  as 
an  element  of  great  faith  in  the  story  of 
the  Canaanitish  woman.  (Matt.  xv.  22-28.) 
She  took,  without  hesitation,  the  lowly 
place  of  a  little  dog  under  the  table,  will- 
ing to  pick  up  the  crumbs  which  the  chil- 
dren wasted,  but  because  of  her  humility 
and  faith  the  Master  said  to  her,  "Be  it 
unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.'  Thus  Jesus 
gave  her  not  merely  the  crumbs,  but 
a  whole  loaf  of  "the  children's  bread.' 
Her  great  faith  is  also  shown  in  her  refusal 
to  take  any  denial  and  in  her  persistency 
when  He  "answered  her  not  a  word.' 


102  THE   LIFE    OF   PRAISE 

How  many  times  when  we  have  heard  no 
answer  to  our  urgent  cries,  we  have  gone 
away  discouraged  and  uncomforted,  while 
if  we  had  refused  to  depart,  even  when 
other  disciples  would  have  pressed  us  back, 
we  would  have  secured  an  abundant  bless- 
ing. The  woman's  great  faith  is  further 
shown  in  the  fact  that  when  He  did  answer 
her  with  a  seeming  denial,  she  came  and 
"worshipped  Him.'  How  precious  is  this 
spirit  of  loving  submission.  She  would 
worship  Him  any  way  as  her  Lord  and  her 
King  even  though  He  should  continue  to 
deny  her  request.  This  is  always  a  neces- 
sary accompaniment  to  true  faith,  the  wor- 
shipful surrender  which  loves  the  Lord 
Himself  more  than  any  of  His  gifts,  and 
this  very  spirit  gives  us  insight  into  the 
heart  of  love  which  encourages  us  to  draw 
nearer  and  to  urge  our  plea, 

Beloved,  let  us  press  closer,  in  persis- 
tency, in  full  surrender,  in  worship,  in  the 
faith  that  stands  on  the  Word  only,  and 
in  the  humility  that  makes  the  worthiness 


GREAT   FAITH   AND   LITTLE   FAITH  103 

of  Jesus  Himself  our  only  plea.  Then  shall 
we  hear  Him  saying  unto  us,  "And  what- 
soever ye  shall  ask  in  My  name,  that  will  I 
do,  that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the 
Son."  (John  xiv.  13.) 


THE  DESIRES  OF  THINE 
HEART 


N   MARK   xi.   24,   we   read,    "What 
things    soever    ye    desire,    when  ye 
pray    believe    that    ye  receive  them 
and  ye  shall  have  them.' 

This  promise,  made  by  our  blessed  Lord, 
is  so  boundless  in  its  grace,  so  unlimited  in 
its  rich  provision,  that  weak  faith  often 
staggers  before  it.  We  feel  like  saying 
"Can  it  be  possible  that  God  means  just 
what  this  verse  says?  Can  He  be  willing 
to  grant  me  all  my  heart's  desire,  and  to 
give  me  liberty  to  believe  that  I  receive 
whatever  I  desire  when  I  pray  ?  I  am  only 
a  frail  human  being.  How  can  He  trust 
me  to  have  right  desires,  so  that  He  can 
thus  fulfill  them  all?'  These  questionings 
have  undoubtedly  gone  through  all  of  our 
hearts  at  one  time  or  another.  Let  us  take 
up  this  question  of  our  desires  and  see  from 


THE   DESIRES   OF   THINE   HEART  105 

God's  Word  what  conditions  must  first  be 
fulfilled  before  we  can  fully  comprehend 
and  realize  our  blessed  privileges  as  set 
forth  in  Mark  xi.  24. 

In  Ps.  xxxvii.  4,  we  read,  "Delight  thy- 
self also  in  the  Lord,  and  He  shall  give 
thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart.' 

Here  again  we  are  promised  that  our 
heart's  desires  shall  be  granted,  but  there 
is  a  condition  preceding  the  promise,  viz., 
to  delight  ourselves  in  the  Lord.  Now,  it 
is  one  thing  to  delight  in  the  Lord's  mercy 
and  in  His  gifts,  and  it  is  entirely  another 
thing  to  delight  ourselves  in  the  Lord  Him- 
self in  the  possible  absence  of  all  His  gifts. 
The  bride  who  with  true  heart  has  given 
herself  to  her  beloved  is  sure  to  receive 
from  him  many  gifts  of  love,  but  her  heart 
is  not  set  upon  these.  If  her  delight  is 
not  unselfishly  set  upon  the  bridegroom 
himself,  he  will  not  consider  her  worthy  of 
his  love  or  his  gifts ;  but,  because  she  loves 
him  for  himself  alone,  it  is  his  delight  to 
shower  his  gifts  upon  her.  This  illustra- 


106  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

tion  may  perhaps  serve  to  make  more  clear 
the  meaning  of  the  text.  Delighting  our^ 
selves  in  the  Lord  alone,  our  hearts  are  pu- 
rified and  our  desires  are  His  own  desires 

within  us.     In  the  self  life  human  desires 

• 

are  strong,  and  in  the  past  wre  have  often 
erred  greatly  in  desiring  what  would  only 
have  brought  us  distress  had  those  desires 
been  granted.  We  read  in  Psalm  cvi.  15, 
' '  He  gave  them  their  request,  but  sent  lean- 
ness into  their  soul.'  It  is  a  terrible  thing 
to  persevere  so  willfully  in  having  our  own 
desires  that  God  will  at  last  grant  them  to 
our  spiritual  hurt.  It  is  recorded  in  Psalm 
Ixxxi.  12,  "So  I  gave  them  up  unto  their 
own  hearts'  lust  (or  desire)  and  they 
walked  in  their  own  counsels.'  Nothing 
could  be  more  terrible  than  to  be  thus  given 
up  by  God  to  the  desires  and  counsels  of 
our  fleshly  nature.  In  the  death  to  self 
these  desires  are  taken  away,  and  a  new  set 
of  heavenly  desires  are  given  us  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  In  a  perfectly  yielded  life 
we  have  often  noticed  that  self  desires  are 


THE   DESIRES   OF   THINE   HEART  107 

so  purged  out  of  us  that  in  praying  about 
a  matter  we  find  no  particular  desire  within 
our  souls  except  the  longing  cry,  ' '  Thy  will 
be  done.'  This  is  most  blessed,  and 
many  souls  stop  at  this  point,  believing  that 
they  have  arrived  at  the  state  of  submission 
and  faith  most  acceptable  to  the  Lord. 
There  is  a  command,  however,  in-  Eph.  v. 
17,  "Be  ye  not  unwise,  but  understanding 
what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is. '  From  these 
words  it  would  seem  that  after  we  have 
been  emptied  of  all  self  desire,  we  must 
open  our  heart  to  be  definitely  filled  with 
Christ's  own  desires,  that  we  may  thus  un- 
derstand His  will  in  each  matter,  and  have 
His  own  intercession  poured  through  us  by 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  make  this  point 
as  clear  to  my  readers  as  it  has  recently 
been  made  to  my  own  soul.  The  new 
light  which  has  been  given  to  me  by  the 
Lord  upon  this  subject  has  been  very 
blessed.  Let  each  reader  seek  the  Spirit's 
teaching,  that  he  may  not  fail  to  know  His 


108  THE  LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

highest  will  right  at  this  important  point. 
It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  not  the  highest 
place  to  be  so  passive  as  to  know  no  definite 
desire  in  prayer,  but  this  is  a  necessary 
stepping-stone  to  the  "  fervent,  effectual 
prayer, ' '  which  is  wrought  in  us  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Have  you  been  brought  to  a 
place  of  lowliness  and  submission,  where 
' '  Thy  will  be  done ' '  seems  the  only  desir- 
able expression  of  prayer?  Then  press  on 
to  have  that  will  made  clear,  that  you  may 
know  what  Christ  is  longing  for,  and  His 
own  longing  shall  take  possession  of  your 
heart.  Then  there  will  be  new  meaning 
to  the  words,  "What  things  soever  ye  de- 
sire when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive 
them,  and  ye  shall  have  them.'  Having 
no  longer  any  doubt  about  the  will  of 
God  in  each  matter  of  prayer,  you  will  be 
able  to  press  your  claim  boldly,  and  to 
"believe  that  you  take'  (lit.  translation) 
whatsoever  you  desire.  The  same  thoughts 
are  brought  out  in  I.  John  v.  14,  15,  'If 
we  ask  anything  according  to  His  will  He 


THE   DESIRES   OF  THINE  HEART  109 

heareth  us.  And  if  we  know  that  He  hear 
us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we 
have  the  petitions  that  we  desired  of  Him. ' 
Notice  again,  God's  order  in  prayer; 
first,  emptied  of  all  our  own  desires,  then 
filled  with  Christ's  desire,  thus  being  filled 
with  boldness  to  claim  the  fulfillment  of 
these  Spirit-born  desires,  and  to  "know 
that  we  have  the  petitions  we  desired'  by 
an  assurance  of  faith  before  we  see  or  feel 
the  answer.  This  is  solid  ground  in  prayer, 
and,  we  shall  be  thus  kept  from  wavering 
during  any  trial  of  faith  which  may  follow. 
In  fact,  there  is  joy  and  wonderful  glory 
in  a  trial  of  faith  when  we  have  the  per- 
fect confidence  that  we  are  already  more 
than  conquerors,  and  we  are  able  to  smile 
at  Satan's  vain  attempts  to  overthrow  our 
faith.  "He  will  fulfill  the  desire  of  them 
that  fear  Him"  (Ps.  cxlv.  19.)  And  as 
"King  Solomon  gave  unto  the  Queen  of 
Sheba  all  her  desire,  whatsoever  she  asked, 
besides  that  which  Solomon  gave  her  of  his 
royal  bounty*  (I,  Kings  x.  13),  so  a 


110  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

"greater  than  Solomon'  is  our  King,  and 
His  "royal  bounty'  shall  so  far  exceed 
what  we  ask  or  think  as  to  make  us  con- 
stantly amazed  and  delighted  with  His 
goodness. 

Only  bow  in  sweet  submission  at  His 
feet,  acknowledging  Him  as  your  King  of 
kings,  and  He  will  teach  you  the  secret 
of  faith,  the  blessedness  of  prevailing  in 
prayer  for  His  own  glory. 


COMFORT  AND  DELIV- 
ERANCE 


E  WILL  take  our  lesson  today  from 
the  first  chapter  of  Second  Corin- 
thians. 

' '  Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father  of  mer- 
cies and  the  God  of  all  comfort  who  com- 
forteth  us  in  all  our  tribulation  that  we 
"may  be  able  to  comfort  them  which  are  in 
any  trouble,  by  the  comfort  wherewith  we 
ourselves  are  comforted  of  God.' 

I  find  so  many  people  seeking  for  com- 
fort. They  say  it  is  the  comfort  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  they  want,  yet  many  of  them 
are  seeking  it  for  selfish  purposes.  They 
desire  to  be  comforted  of  God — not  that 
they  may  become  ministers  of  comfort  in 
their  turn,  but  so  that  they  may  have  a 
good  time,  and  be  free  from  pain  and  trou- 
ble, and  be  at  ease  in  Zion. 


1121  THE   LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

Dear  ones,  if  you  really  desire  the  com- 
fort of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  communion 
with  the  Father,  in  order  that  you  may 
use  it  as  Jesus  used  it,  it  is  for  you,  and 
those  that  seek  shall  find,  but  if  you  get 
this  heavenly  comfort,  it  will  cause  you  to 
reach  out  in  all  directions  to  comfort  oth- 
ers with  the  same  comfort  wherewith  you 
have  been  comforted.  You  will  not  wait 
for  opportunities,  you  will  go  where  the 
opportunities  are,  among  the  halt  and 
lame,  the  sick  and  the  blind,  as  Jesus  did, 
and  you  will  learn  this  remarkable  fact, 
that  as  you  impart  your  comfort  it  in- 
creases. The  law  of  giving  differs  from  all 
other  mathematics.  The  more  you  spend 
the  more  you  have.  Gifts  of  grace  multi- 
ply by  division. 

''Is  your  cruse  of  comfort  failing?  Rise 
and  share  it  with  another.' 

"Scanty  fare  for  one  is  a  royal  feast  for 
two,'1  is  God's  arithmetic.  When  you  find 
yourself  growing  comfortless,  go  quickly 
and  share  what  you  have  left  with  some 


COMFORT  AND  DELIVERANCE  113 

f 

one  who  has  less  than  you,  and  you  shall 
return  with  your  own  cup  running  over. 

It  is  very  necessary  to  our  growth  in 
grace  that  every  mite  of  comfort  we  get, 
and  every  new  thing  we  learn  of  God's 
Spirit  should  be  passed  on  to  others. 
Sometimes  in  studying  God's  Word,  I  get 
a  wonderful  new  ray  of  light.  The  very 
next  opportunity  I  tell  it  to  some  one  else 
and  the  more  I  tell  it,  the  more  its  circle 
of  light  enlarges  till  its  arch  is  like  a  rain- 
bow, and  it  glows  with  the  very  light  of 
the  throne. 

* '  But, ' '  you  say,  ' '  I  have  no  gift  of  lan- 
guage; I  don't  know  how  to  talk  it  out.' 
But  God  is  able  to  enrich  you  in  utterance 
as  well  as  in  anything  else.  If  He  could 
give  me  utterance,  He  certainly  can  give  it 
to  you.  I  was  utterly  dumb  in  regard  to 
the  things  of  God,  but  after  the  blessing 
got  too  big  for  my  heart,  I  had  to  talk! 
Ask  Jesus  to  fill  your  little  earthen  vessel 
so  full  it  will  be  compelled  to  run  over. 

Verses  8  to  10:    "For    we    would    not, 


114  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

brethren,  have  you  ignorant  of  our  trou- 
ble which  came  to  us  in  Asia,  that  we  were 
pressed  out  of  measure,  above  strength,  in- 
somuch that  we  despaired  even  of  life.' 

"But  we  had  the  sentence  of  death  in 
ourselves,  that  we  should  not  trust  in  our- 
selves, but  in  God  which  raiseth  the  dead : 

' '  Who  delivered  us  from  so  great  a  death, 
and  doth  deliver ;  in  whom  we  trust  that  He 
will  yet  deliver  us. ' 

May  the  Lord  by  His  Holy  Spirit  give 
you  as  much  comfort  out  of  these  three 
verses  as  He  has  given  me.  This  Word 
says  that  Paul  was  "pressed,'  and  the 
pressure  was  so  great  he  could  not  meas- 
ure it.  Only  the  Crucified  Hand  could 
measure  Paul's  trouble.  But  He  who  suf- 
fered even  unto  death  Himself  was  watch- 
ing, with  His  measuring  scale  in  hand, 
ready  to  make  the  way  of  escape  before 
the  trial  should  become  too  grievous  to  be 
borne.  Some  of  you  have  been  going 
through  just  such  a  pressure.  God  knows 
what  it  is.  Your  trial  might  not  be  a  trial 


COMFORT   AND   DELIVERANCE  115 

to  another,  but  it  weighs  you  down 
"above  strength.'  "Beloved,  think  it  not 
strange  concerning  this  fiery  trial  which 
cometh  upon  you  to  prove  you  (as  the  Re- 
vised Version  reads),  but  rejoice,  inas- 
much as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ 's  suffer- 
ings, that  at  the  revelation  of  His  glory  ye 
may  rejoice  with  exceeding  joy!' 

We  have  been  through  all  these  pressing 
processes  in  which  we  "despaired  even  of 
life. '  I  remember  a  good  many  in  my  life, 
especially  during  my  long  illness.  It  was 
not  only  the  terrible  pain,  but  the  crushing 
sense  of  helplessness,  and  thought  of  the 
dear  ones  who  suffered  so  much  with  me. 

Two  years  and  two  months  I  lay  in  that 
agony,  but  in  looking  back  upon  it  now, 
how  I  thank  God  for  the  pressing  process ! 
A  great  deal  of  self  had  to  be  pressed  out 
of  me  before  I  was  ready  to  receive  the 
"life  more  abundantly.'  The  pressure 
seemed  above  strength  and  out  of  measure, 
and  I  despaired  even  of  life.  All  human 
resources  failed ;  "  we  had  the  sentence  of 


116  THE   LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

death  in  ourselves. '  I  was  not  only  suffer- 
ing unutterable  anguish  in  my  body,  but 
clouds  of  doubts  and  fears  were  rolling  over 
my  spirit.  I  had  sought  and  struggled 
for  the  full  assurance  of  faith  in  Christ, 
and  finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
was  different  from  other  people,  and  the 
blessing  was  not  for  me ;  that  I  was  so 
stony-hearted  it  was  not  possible  for  God  to 
work  in  my  heart  to  His  glory,  and  give 
me  peace  and  joy  and  victory.  I  was  sure 
I  must  be  the  wrong  kind  of  material,  and 
I  could  discover  nothing  but  the  ' '  sentence 
(or  answer)  of  death"  in  myself.  But  God 
which  "raiseth  the  dead'  delivered  my 
soul,  and  filled  me  with  peace  and  victory, 
and  also  healed  my  body  as  by  a  miracle, 
in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith.  The  God 
of  Paul  is  able  to  deliver  you  from  "so 
great  a  death,'  no  matter  what  your  trial 
may  be. 

Will  you  not  rest  in  Him  today  and 
realize  that  you  have  nothing  to  do  in  this 
battle  but  to  keep  still — keep  still  and  trust 


COMFORT   AND   DELIVERANCE  117 

in  God  which  raiseth  the  dead,  who  "de- 
livered ' '  and  ' '  doth  deliver, ' '  and  will ' '  yet 
deliver. ' 

As  fast  as  you  die  to  your  own  works 
and  your  own  resources  and  your  confi- 
dence in  yourself,  Just  so  fast  you  will  be 
raised  to  newness  of  life.  Christ  will  give 
you  "beauty  for  ashes,'  and  "the  oil  of 
joy  for  mourning.' 

God  will  let  everything  fail  in  which  you 
have  trusted,  especially  all  your  own 
natural  goodness.  People  who  have  always 
been  amiable  frequently  pride  themselves 
upon  it,  and  God  has  to  teach  them  that 
all  they  count  good  in  themselves  has  to 
die  the  same  as  all  that  they  count  vile. 
Nothing,  nothing  at  all  of  the  natural  heart 
will  be  accepted  of  God,  none  of  your  nat- 
ural gifts  or  attainments  or  graces.  Christ 
must  be  all,  that  in  all  things  He  may  have 
the  pre-eminence. 

Cain  brought  a  gift  of  the  fruits  of  the 
ground  to  the  Lord,  but  on  them  was  no 
blood-shedding,  no  acknowledgment  of  the 


118  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

necessity  of  atonement,  and  God  rejected 
Cain 's  offerings,  and  accepted  Abel 's  which 
was  offered  in  recognition  of  and  faith  in 
the  "Lamb  that  was  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.' 

God  showed  me  that  He  would  never  use 
anyone  for  His  glory  until  all  their  nat- 
ural gifts  had  died.  All  has  to  pass  under 
the  blood-shedding,  and  Jesus  then  resur- 
rects it  as  He  will,  to  His  own  glory.  ' '  Not 
that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think 
anything  as  of  ourselves ;  but  our  suffi- 
ciency is  of  God'  (II.  Cor.  iii.  5). 

Are  you  willing  not  to  think  a  tli ought 
unless  God  thinks  it  in  you  ?  Although 
we  may  be  willing  to  own  our  deficiency 
on  all  other  lines  it  is  hard  to  admit  that 
we  are  incapable  of  doing  our  own  think- 
ing and  planning,  but  God  tells  us  not  to 
lean  to  our  own  understanding,  but  to  ac- 
knowledge Him  in  all  our  ways. 

Even  when  it  seems  as  though  the  way 
you  had  committed  to  God  had  gone  com- 
pletely wrong,  still  rest  and  trust.  Soon 


COMFORT   AND   DELIVERANCE  119 

you  will  see  the  manifestation  of  your 
blessed  Lord's  working.  If  Jesus  leads, 
you  cannot  go  astray,  and  "as  many  as  are 
led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons 
of  God." 

If  we  depend  on  Jesus  for  His  heavenly 
wisdom,  it  will  defeat  all  the  worldly  wise 
counsel  of  Ahithophel.  "That  we  should 
not  trust  in  ourselves ; '  will  you  say  this 
the  next  time  the  devil  tells  you  to  trust 
in  your  own  wisdom,  or  your  own  prayers, 
or  your  own  faith?  Say,  "I  have  the  an- 
swer of  death  in  myself,  but  I  will  trust 
in  God  who  raiseth  the  dead.'  Say,  "I 
will  die,  Lord,  entirely,  and  never  have 
any  more  life  unless  Thou  dost  raise  me 
up  and  put  it  in  me  by  Thy  own  mighty 
power  which  raised  Jesus  from  the  dead.' 

"Who  delivered  us  from  so  great  a 
death.'  "When  Paul  was  willing  to  die  he 
was  delivered.  Three  deliverances,  of  the 
past,  of  the  present,  and  of  the  future. 
Deliverances  all  along  the  way.  He  who 
has  delivered  thee  in  six  troubles  will  al- 


120  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

low  no  evil  to  touch  you  in  the  seventh. 
Can't  you  trust  Him  now  in  the  swellings 
of  Jordan  ? 

''Here  I'll  raise  my  Ebenezer, 

Hither   by   Thy   help    I'm    come; 
And    I   know   by    Thy   good   pleasure, 
I  shall  safely  reach  my  home  ' 

Praise  God  there  are  Ebenezer  altars  all 
along  the  way,  and  every  evening  as  we 
pitch  the  tent,  we  can  say,  "Hitherto  hath 
the  Lord  helped  me.' 

People  sometimes  say  to  me,  "Oh,  if 
God  had  raised  me  up  from  my  dying  bed 
as  He  has  you,  I  would  never  doubt 
again ! '  Yes,  you  would — your  heart 
would  be  mean  enough  to  doubt  Him  the 
very  next  time  unless  He  continually  kept 
you  by  His  grace.  Our  hearts  are  so  hard- 
ened we  remember  not  His  miracles  unless 
they  are  kept  tender  by  the  constant  influx 
of  His  love.  It  is  not  the  miracles  that  bind 
our  faith,  it  is  Jesus !  He  works  a  constant 
miracle  to  do  it.  Have  I  abundant  faith? 
It  was  not  because  I  was  raised  up  from 


COMFORT   AND  DELIVERANCE  121 

death,  but  because  I  have  Jesus  all  the  way 
along  abiding  in  me  to  be  my  faith.  If 
you  will  take  Him  as  your  life,  you  will 
have  a  wonderful  experience  of  what  He  is 
able  to  do  in  all  emergencies.  He  will  sur- 
prise you  all  the  time  with  His  miracle- 
working  power,  above  all  that  you  are  able 
to  ask  or  even  to  think.  Although  the 
blessing  of  one  time  is  exceedingly  abun- 
dant, the  next  blessing  will  mark  a  higher 
flood  of  glory,  and  so  the  tide  keeps  rising, 
and  will  rise  to  all  eternity. 

How  many  will  say  ' '  Amen ' '  today  to  all 
His  promises  and  come  and  take  of  the 
Water  of  Life  freely?  Not  according  to 
your  deserts,  but  "according  to  His  riches 
in  glory."  "Faithful  is  He  that  calleth 
you,  who  also  will  do  it.' 


VICTORY  THROUGH  DEFEAT 


x 


WILL  tell  you  what  gave  me  the 
keynote  for  this  Bible  reading  this 
morning.  It  was  a  little  sentence 
that  I  heard  Mr.  Montgomery  read,  that 
' l  God  gets  His  greatest  victories  out  of  ap- 
parent defeats.'  Very  often  the  enemy 
seems  to  triumph  for  a  little,  and  God  lets 
it  be  so,  but  then  He  comes  in  and  upsets 
all  the  work  of  the  enemy,  overthrows  the 
apparent  victory,  and,  as  the  Bible  says : 
"Turns  the  way  of  the  wicked  upside 
down.'  Thus  He  gives  a  great  deal  larger 
victory  than  we  wrould  have  known  if  He 
had  not  allowed  the  enemy  seemingly  to 
triumph  in  the  first  place.  We  will  look 
into  tht:  Word  of  God  for  illustrations  of 
this  truth.  Turn  to  the  third  chapter  of 
Daniel.  This  story  is  familiar  to  you. 
Here  was  an  apparent  victory  of  the  enemy. 
You  remember  that  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
king,  had  made  a  great  image  of  gold,  and 
he  commanded  that  all  the  people  should 


VICTORY   THROUGH   DEFEAT  123 

worship  the  image,  and  his  decree  was  that 
all  the  people  who  did  not  bow  down  to 
worship  the  image  should  be  cast  into  a 
fiery  furnace. 

You  remember  also  that  there  were  three 
men  who  served  God  with  all  their  hearts 
and  they  would  not  obey  this  command, 
and,  therefore,  Nebuchadnezzar  was  very 
angry.  He  had  these  three  men  brought 
before  him  and  asked  them  if  it  were  true 
that  they  dared  to  disobey  his  command. 
These  three  brave  men  of  faith  answered, 
"0  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  are  not  careful  to 
answer  thee  in  this  matter.  If  it  be  so,  our 
God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to  deliver  us 
from  the  fiery  furnace ;  and  He  will  deliver 
vis  out  of  thine  hand,  0  king.  But,  if  not, 
be  it  known  unto  thee,  0  king,  we  will  not 
serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden 
image  which  thou  hast  set  up.'  We  read 
that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  full  of  fury  and 
commanded  that  the  furnace  should  be 
heated  seven  times  hotter.  Things  looked 
pretty  dark  for  these  three  men.  Then  he 


124  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

commanded  the  most  mighty  men  in  his 
army  to  bind  them  and  cast  them  into  the 
furnace,  and  the  fire  was  so  hot  that  the 
very  men  who  cast  them  into  the  furnace 
were  burned  up  by  the  flames,  and  these 
three  Hebrew  children  fell  down  bound  in 
the  midst  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace.  It 
looked  as  if  the  servants  of  the  living  God 
were  going  to  have  a  terrible  defeat,  and 
their  enemies  watched  to  see  them  burn  up 
in  that  awful  fire.  We  have  all  been  in 
places  where  it  seemed  as  though  we  were 
defeated  and  the  enemy  rejoiced,  and  we 
can  imagine  what  a  complete  defeat  this 
looked  to  be.  They  fell  down  in  the  flames, 
and  Nebuchadnezzar  watched  them  and  be- 
gan to  be  very  much  astonished,  so  that  he 
could  not  trust  his  own  memory,  and  he 
asked  his  counselors,  "Did  not  we  cast 
three  men  bound  into  the  midst  of  the 
fire?"  And  they  said,  "True,  0  king." 
"Well,  but  what  is  this?  I  see  four  men. 
I  see  them  loose  and  walking  about.  They 
are  not  bound  either,  but  are  Avalking 


VICTORY   THROUGH   DEFEAT  125 

around  in  the  fire,  and  they  seem  to  be  en- 
joying themselves,  and  the  form  of  the 
fourth  is  like  unto  the  Son  of  God. '  Even 
poor  heathen  Nebuchadnezzar  had  it  re- 
vealed unto  him  that  this  was  the  Son  of 
God.  And  so  we  may  fall  down  in  the  fiery 
furnace  of  affliction,  but  the  fire  will  only 
burn  the  bands  that  hold  us  captive,  and 
we  shall  rise  to  newness  of  life.  And  even 
the  worldly  people  gazing  upon  us  shall  be- 
hold that  the  Lord  our  God  is  with  us,  and 
that  when  we  walk  through  the  fire  "the 
flames  shall  not  kindle  upon  us.'  Praise 
God  for  trouble,  for  suffering,  and  afflic- 
tion, because  in  all  these  things  He  makes 
us  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that 
loved  us.  Well,  they  remained  in  the  fire 
until  Nebuchadnezzar  called  them  out  of  it. 
When  I  was  telling  this  story  to  my  little 
girl  one  day,  she  asked  me,  'Don't  you 
think  they  were  sorry  when  they  had  to 
come  out,  because  Jesus  was  there  with 
them?'  They  were  having  a  blessed  time, 
communing  with  their  Lord.  I  have  no 


126  THE   LIFE    OF   PRAISE 

doubt  but  that  the  atmosphere  around  them 
was  the  atmosphere  of  heaven,  pure  and 
cool  and  refreshing. 

Nebuchadnezzar  told  them  to  come  forth, 
and  when  they  "came  forth  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire'  their  enemies  saw  that 
their  hair  was  not  even  singed,  "neither 
were  their  coats  changed,  nor  the  smell  of 
fire  had  passed  on  them.'  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  so  affected  by  the  power  of  the  Lord 
that  he  said,  "Blessed  be  the  God  of 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego,  who 
hath  sent  His  angel  and  delivered  His  ser- 
vants that  trusted  in  Him,  and  have 
changed  the  king's  word,  and  yielded  their 
bodies  that  they  might  not  serve  nor  wor- 
ship any  god  except  their  own  God.'  And 
then  he  sent  forth  a  decree  that  every 
nation  or  people  that  spoke  anything 
against  the  God  of  these  three  men  should 
be  cut  in  pieces,  "because  there  is  no  other 
god  that  can  deliver  after  this  sort. ' 

God's  power  "changed  the  king's  word.' 
The  word  goes  forth  from  the  kings  of  the 


VICTORY   THROUGH   DEFEAT  127 

earth  and  from  those  who  have  the  power 
in  this  land  to  harm  the  children  of  God, 
but  God  changes  the  word  because  they 
trust  in  Him  and  have  determined  not  to 
serve  any  God  but  their  own  God.  This 
apparent  defeat  resulted  in  a  marvelous 
victory.  Suppose  that  these  three  men  had 
lost  their  faith  and  courage  and  had  com- 
plained, saying,  "Why  did  not  God  keep 
us  out  of  the  furnace  ? '  They  would  have 
been  burned,  and  God  would  not  have  been 
glorified. 

We  read  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Daniel 
that  Daniel  had  found  favor  in  the  king's 
sight,  and  that  they  could  find  no  fault 
with  him  "except  they  found  it  against 
him  concerning  the  law  of  his  God.'  Oh, 
that  people  could  not  find  any  fault  with 
us  except  that  we  served  God  too  faith- 
fully !  Then  the  governors  and  princes 
"consulted  together  to  establish  a  royal 
statute,  and  to  make  a  firm  decree,  that 
whosoever  should  ask  a  petition  of  any 
god  or  man  for  thirty  days, ' '  except  from 


128  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

the  king,  should  be  cast  into  a  den  of 
lions.  And  they  took  the  decree  to  the 
king  and  he  signed  it.  Now  when  Daniel 
heard  it,  do  you  think  he  said,  "Well,  I  can 
pray  in  my  closet  and  not  let  these  people 
know  that  I  am  praying  to  God  today ;  I 
will  be  circumspect  and  cautious  ? '  No  ;  he 
dared  to  show  his  colors.  His  enemies 
came  and  found  him  "praying  and  making 
supplication  before  his  God/  Therefore 
they  accused  him  before  the  king,  who 
"was  sore  displeased  with  himself,  and  set 
his  heart  on  Daniel  to  deliver  him.'  He 
was  reminded,  however,  by  his  princes 
that  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians 
could  not  be  changed,  and  Daniel's  fate  was 
sealed.  King  Darius  had  one  ray  of  hope 
left,  and  he  said  unto  Daniel,  "Thy  God 
whom  thou  servest  continually,  He  will  de- 
liver thee.' 

Apparently  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  had 
triumphed,  and  it  seemed  like  a  tremen- 
dous defeat  to  His  cause,  but  as  we  have 
seen  before  God  gets  His  greatest  victories 


VICTORY  THROUGH  DEFEAT  129 

out  of  what  seem  like  the  greatest  failures, 
and  it  was  so  in  this  case.  Daniel  must 
have  had  a  night,  not  of  anxiety  and  trou- 
ble, but  of  great  joy,  for  his  testimony  the 
next  morning  was,  "My  God  hath  sent  His 
angel,  and  hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths  that 
they  have  not  hurt  me.'  With  the  com- 
panionship of  that  bright  visitor  from 
heaven,  how  blessed  must  have  been  that 
night  of  testing !  His  deliverance  was  be- 
cause of  his  overcoming  faith,  for  we  read, 
"No  manner  of  hurt  was  found  upon  him 
because  he  believed  in  his  God. '  The  king 
was  ' '  exceeding  glad, ' '  and  he  commanded 
that  Daniel's  accusers  should  be  cast  into 
the  den  of  lions,  and  then  he  wrote  a  de- 
cree that  in  all  his  kingdom  men  should 
"tremble  and  fear  before  the  God  of 
Daniel ; "  " f or  He  is  a  living  God, "  "He 
delivereth,  and  rescueth,  and  worketh 
signs  and  wonders  in  heaven  and  in  earth.' 
Oh,  shall  we  not  learn  the  lesson  that  in 
all  the  hard  places  God  brings  us  into,  He 
is  making  opportunities  for  us  to  exercise 


130  THE   LIFE    OF   PRAISE 

such  faith  in  Him  as  will  bring  about 
blessed  results  and  greatly  glorify  His 
name? 

Let  us  turn  to  the  book  of  Esther  for 
still  another  illustration  of  this  same 
truth.  You  remember  this  history  of 
Queen  Esther,  and  how  Haman  was  plot- 
ting for  the  downfall  of  Mordecai  and  the 
destruction  of  the  whole  Jewish  people. 
One  night  the  king  could  not  sleep,  and 
"he  commanded  to  bring  him  the  book  of 
records  of  the  chronicles,  and  they  were 
read  before  the  king. '  It  was  written  that 
Mordecai  had  saved  the  king's  life  when 
two  of  his  chamberlains  had  sought  to  lay 
hands  on  him,  and  the  king  said,  "What 
honor  and  dignity  hath  been  done  to 
Mordecai  for  this  ? '  They  answered  that 
no  reward  had  been  given  him.  Hainan 
came  in  at  that  moment  intending  to  ask 
permission  to  hang  Mordecai,  but  the  king 
asked  him,"  What  shall  be  done  unto  the 
man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honor?' 
Haman  thought  that  it  must  be  himself 


VICTORY  THROUGH  DEFEAT  131 

whom  the  king  wanted  to  honor,  so  he 
planned  a  very  great  thing.  He  advised 
that  the  royal  apparel  be  brought  that  the 
king  used  to  wear,  and  the  king's  crown 
be  set  upon  his  head,  and  that  he  ride 
through  the  city  on  the  king's  horse,  a 
noble  prince  leading  him,  and  proclaiming 
"This  is  the  man  whom  the  king  delighteth 
to  honor.' 

How  frightened  and  humiliated  was 
Haman  when  he  found  that  it  was  Mor- 
decai  whom  the  king  desired  to  honor! 
The  king  acted  on  his  suggestion,  and 
moreover  appointed  Haman'  to  be  the 
prince  who  should  lead  him  in  triumph 
through  the  city. 

When  Queen  Esther  knew  the  plot 
against  the  Jews,  and  how  the  king  had 
been  persuaded  by  Haman  to  sign  a  writ- 
ing for  the  destruction  of  her  people,  she 
risked  her  life  and  went  before  the  king 
without  being  called,  saying,  "If  I  perish, 
I  perish.'  God  gave  her  favor  in  his  eyes, 
so  that  he  held  out  the  golden  sceptre  to 


132'  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

her  and  said  he  would  grant  her  request 
unto  the  half  of  his  kingdom.  God  changed 
the  defeat  of  His  people  into  a  mighty 
victory,  for  when  the  king  learned  of  Ha- 
inan's wickedness,  he  commanded  that 
Haman  should  be  hanged  on  the  gallows 
that  he  had  erected  for  Mordecai.  But 
Mordecai  went  out  of  the  king's  presence 
in  royal  apparel,  and  with  a  crown  of  gold 
on  his  head.  The  writing  of  the  king  could 
not  be  changed,  but  another  writing  was 
sent  throughout  all  the  provinces,  permit- 
ting the  JewTs  ''to  stand  for  their  life,' 
and  to  destroy  all  who  tried  to  hurt  them. 
'And  many  of  the  people  of  the  land  be- 
came Jews,  for  the  fear  of  the  Jews  fell 
upon  them.'  In  the  ninth  chapter,  first 
verse,  we  read  that  when  the  time  came  that 
the  enemies  of  the  Jews  hoped  to  have 
power  over  them,  ' '  it  was  turned  to  the  con- 
trary, and  the  Jews  had  rule  over  them  that 
hated  them.'  In  the  third  verse  we  see 
that  instead  of  the  rulers  hurting  them  they 
helped  them,  ' '  because  the  fear  of  Mordecai 


VICTORY   THROUGH   DEFEAT  133 

fell  upon  them.'  The  Jews  had  rest  and 
quietness  and  honor  in  the  land  such  as 
they  had  never  had  before.  In  the  four- 
teenth verse  we  read  that  their  sorrow  was 
turned  into  joy,  and  they  feasted  and  sent 
"portions  one  to  another,  and  gifts  to  the 
poor. ' '  What  a  mighty  victory  out  of  what 
seemed  at  first  a  terrible  defeat!  So  God 
turns  our  sorrow  into  joy ;  He  takes  the 
very  trial  and  makes  use  of  it  to  bring 
about  great  results  for  our  good,  and  His 
glory.  Shall  we  not  be  more  trustful  and 
patient  when  we  do  not  immediately  un- 
derstand His  plans  for  us? 

Now  look  at  Numbers  xxiii :  Balak,  the 
king  of  Moab,  had  hired  Balaam  to  curse 
the  children  of  Israel.  But  God  rebuked 
Balaam,  and  the  dumb  beast  upon  which 
he  was  riding  perceived  the  angel  that 
stood  in  the  way,  and  spoke  to  Balaam. 
God  permitted  Balaam  to  go,  but  said: 
"Only  the  word  that  I  shall  speak  unto 
thee,  that  shalt  thou  speak.'  Instead  of 
cursing  the  children  of  Israel,  Balaam  be- 


134  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

gan  to  bless  them.  Balak  was  horrified, 
and  said :  ' '  What  hast  thou  done  unto  me  ? 
I  took  thee  to  curse  mine  enemies,  and  be- 
hold thou  hast  blessed  them  altogether.' 
Then  Balak  brought  him  to  another  place, 
and  wanted  Balaam  to  try  again.  Ba- 
laam's answer  was,  "Surely  there  is  no 
enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there 
any  divination  against  Israel.'  The 
heathen  king  took  him  to  a  third  place  to 
see  if  he  would  not  have  better  results  in 
cursing  them  there,  but  Balaam  pronounced 
a  greater  blessing  than  ever,  so  that  Balak 
was  very  angry.  After  the  second  trial 
Balak  said  to  Balaam,  "Neither  curse 
them  at  all  nor  bless  them  at  all.'  When 
Balak  failed  to  have  the  curse  brought 
about,  he  wanted  that  at  least  they  should 
have  no  blessing,  but  it  is  not  God's  way 
to  neutralize  a  curse  upon  His  people,  but 
to  overcome  it  altogether,  so  that  we  receive 
blessing  for  cursing.  In  Deut.  xxiii.  5  it  is 
recorded,  "Nevertheless  the  Lord  thy  God 
would  not  hearken  unto  Balaam,  but  the 


VICTORY   THROUGH  DEFEAT  135 

Lord  thy  God  turned  the  curse  into  a  bless- 
ing unto  them  because  the  Lord  thy  God 
loved  them.'  God  can  take  the  curse  and 
the  venom  that  the  devil  has  in  his  heart 
against  you,  and  that  he  is  trying  to  work 
out  in  your  life,  and  change  it  into  the 
most  glorious  victory,  if  you  will  but  trust 
Him.  When  Satan  sees  that  God  turns  his 
evil  work  into  blessing  in  our  lives,  un- 
doubtedly he  is  sorry  that  he  tried  to  curse 
us,  and  he  would  like  to  say  to  the  Lord,  '  *  I 
will  take  it  all  back;  don't  bless  them,  and 
don't  curse  them;  just  leave  them  alone.' 
But  God  has  given  us  that  wonderful 
promise  in  Rom.  viii.  28,  and  as  long  as 
that  word  stands,  evil  will  not  be  neu- 
tralized to  God's  children,  but  made  to 
'work  together  for  good.' 

Some  one  has  said  that  apparently  the 
greatest  defeat  in  this  universe  was  the 
defeat  of  Calvary,  when  the  blessed  Son 
of  God  was  crucified  by  His  enemies.  The 
two  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus  were 
very  sad  as  they  ' '  communed  together  and 


136  THE   LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

reasoned,'  and  they  said  to  Jesus,  not 
knowing  it  was  their  risen  Lord,  "We 
trusted  that  it  had  been  He  who  should 
have  redeemed  Israel.'  But  out  of  that  ig- 
nominious death  and  defeat  of  Calvary 
came  the  resurrection  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  through  that  death  and  resurrection, 
eternal  life  to  all  who  will  accept  Him. 

If  there  is  a  great  trial  and  defeat  in 
your  life  today,  beloved,  do  not  own  it  as 
defeat,  but  continue,  by  faith,  to  claim 
the  victory  through  Him  who  is  able  to 
make  you  more  than  a  conqueror.  At  one 
time  of  great  testing  in  my  life,  the  enemy 
put  to  me  the  question,  * '  How  long  will  you 
believe  that  the  victory  is  yours?'  And 

*/  */ 

in  the  face  of  all  the  difficulty  I  said,  "I 
will  believe  all  the  days  of  my  life,  even 
though  I  should  never  see  any  human  evi- 
dence of  victory.'  With  that  God-given 
faith,  which  would  not  quail  before  the 
taunts  or  lies  of  the  devil,  a  glorious  vic- 
tory was  soon  apparent. 

Beloved,  trust  Him  to  turn  the  curse  in- 
to a  blessing  for  His  glory. 


HEARKENING  DILIGENTLY 


HE  thought  has  been  coming  to  me 
with  ever-increasing  force  of  late, 
that  God  wants  the  careful  attention 
of  His  children  that  they  may  hearken  dili- 
gently to  His  voice,  and  thus  know  His 
will  and  do  it.  I  find  that  many  dear  ones 
are  anxious  to  do  God's  will,  but  they  are 
often  in  doubt  about  what  that  will  is,  and 
instead  of  waiting  upon  Him  long  enough 
to  find  out,  they  run  hither  and  thither  and 
make  sad  mistakes  and  bring  much  confu- 
sion and  trouble  into  their  own  lives,  as 
well  as  failing  to  glorify  God. 

There  are  very  many  passages  in  the 
Word  of  God  in  which  He  calls  upon  us  to 
hearken  to  His  voice,  and  many  times  also 
He  laments  the  fact  that  His  people  will 
not  hearken  and  thus  miss  the  good  which 
He  had  intended  to  shower  upon  them. 


138  THE  LIFE   OF  PRAISE 

From  the  many  texts  upon  this  impor- 
tant subject,  I  have  selected  a  few  which  I 
trust  will  bring  both  warning  and  comfort 
to  my  readers,  and  I  hope  they  will  after- 
wards take  Bible  and  Concordance  in  hand 
and  study  the  many  other  passages  on 
hearkening  which  they  will  find  for  them- 
selves. 

In  I.  Sam.  xv.  22,  we  read,  "Behold,  to 
obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken 
than  the  fat  of  rams.  For  rebellion  is  as 
the  sin  of  witchcraft  and  stubbornness  is 
as  iniquity  and  idolatry.' 

The  story  is  familiar  to  us  all,  how  King 
Saul  failed  to  hearken  and  obey,  when  sent 
to  destroy  the  Amalekites  and  their  posses- 
sions, and  how  he  preserved  "the  best  of 
the  sheep  and  oxen'  to  sacrifice  unto  the 
Lord.  Ah,  how  many  times  God's  chil- 
dren try  to  excuse  their  failure  to  hearken 
and  obey  under  the  pretext  of  doing  some- 
thing gracious  for  the  Lord's  cause  and 
kingdom,  while  all  the  time  they  are  dis- 


HEARKENING   DILIGENTLY  139 

pleasing  Him  by  going  their  own  ways  in- 
stead of  His.  For  this  one  act  of  dis- 
obedience Saul's  kingdom  was  rent  from 
him,  and  can  we  fail  to  hearken  and  obey 
without  suffering  great  loss,  spiritually  at 
least  ? 

In  Isa.  xlviii.  18,  we  hear  the  sad  com- 
plaint of  "the  Holy  One  of  Israel,"  "0 
that  thou  hadst  hearkened  to  Mv  command- 

c/ 

ments ;  then  had  thy  peace  been  as  a  river, 
and  thy  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the 


sea.: 


Do  we  need  peace,  beloved,  deep  peace, 
broad  and  full  and  glorious  as  a  mighty 
river  ?  Then  let  us  hearken  to  Christ  until 
we  are  so  well  acquainted  with  His  voice 
that  we  shall  not  miss  a  single  whisper. 
Are  we  saddened  over  our  sins  and  failures 
and  do  we  need  that  righteousness  which 
shall  break  into  great  billows  upon  our 
longing  souls?  Then  let  us  hearken  dili- 
gently to  His  commandments,  with  our  ears 
closed  to  the  tumult  of  earth,  and  giving 


140  THE   LIFE    OF   PRAISE 

all  our  attention  to  His  Word  and  His 
Spirit.  He  longs,  dear  one,  that  you  shall 
have  this  rich  experience,  for  He  says  again 
in  Ps.  Ixxxi.  8,  "0  Israel,  if  thou  wilt 
hearken  unto  Me,  there  shall  no  strange  god 
be  in  thee ;  neither  shalt  thou  worship  any 
strange  god.'  And  again  there  is  the  wail 
of  disappointed  love,  ''But  My  people 
would  not  hearken  to  My  voice,  and  Israel 
would  none  of  Me ;  so  I  gave  them  up  unto 
their  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  they  walked  in 
their  own  counsels.  Oh,  that  My  people 
had  hearkened  unto  Me,  and  Israel  had 
walked  in  My  ways !  I  should  soon  have 
subdued  their  enemies  and  turned  My  hand 
against  their  adversaries.'  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  11- 
14.)  Does  this  sound  as  though  God  want- 
ed you  to  have  a  hard  time  ?  Does  it  not 
sound  rather  like  a  tender  mother  grieving 
because  her  children  are  determined  to  go 
their  own  way,  against  her  counsel,  and 
thus  suffer  the  hardships  she  would  will- 
ingly have  saved  them  from?  Is  this  not 
tender,  wonderful  language  from  the  God 


HEARKENING   DILIGENTLY  141 

of  Love  ?  He  says  if  they  had  only  heark- 
ened He  would  soon  have  subdued  their 
enemies.  Have  you  failed  in  the  past  to 
hearken,  beloved,  and  is  this  the  cause  of 
the  long  delay  in  answered  prayer,  when  it 
seems  as  though  the  Lord  does  not  hear 
your  cry  or  care  any  more  ?  For  there  are 
very  solemn  words  recorded  in  Zech.  vii.  11, 
'But  they  refused  to  hearken,  and  pulled 
away  the  shoulder  and  stopped  their  ears, 
that  they  should  not  hear.  Yea,  they  made 
their  hearts  as  an  adamant  stone,  lest  they 
should  hear  the  law  .  .  .  Therefore  it  is 
come  to  pass  that  as  He  cried,  and  they 
would  not  hear,  so  they  cried  and  I  would 
not  hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.' 

This  is  a  picture  of  very  great  obstinacy 
and  unfaithfulness,  which  I  trust  none  of  us 
have  been  guilty  of,  but  even  if  some  dear 
reader  believes  this  to  be  a  picture  of  his 
own  heart,  he  can  even  yet  find  mercy  from 
our  all-pitiful  Lord.  For  there  is  the  great- 
est comfort  to  be  found  in  II.  Chron.  xxxiii. 
10-13. 


142*  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

Manasseh  and  his  people  "would  not 
hearken, ' '  and  so  God  was  obliged  to  send 
great  trouble  upon  the  King,  and  he  was 
carried  away  into  Babylon.  But  we  read 
that  ' '  when  he  was  in  affliction  he  besought 
the  Lord  his  God,  and  humbled  himself 
greatly  before  the  God  of  his  fathers  and 
prayed  unto  Him ;  and  He  was  entreated 
of  him,  and  heard  his  supplication,  and 
brought  him  again  to  Jerusalem  into  his 
kingdom.  Then  Manasseh  knew  that  the 
Lord  He  was  God.'  Praise  God  for  His 

• 

abundant  mercy !  He  will  always  meet  and 
bless  the  contrite  soul  which  humbles  it- 
self greatly  under  His  correction. 

It  is  most  interesting  and  profitable  to 
note  how  many  times  the  word    '  hearken ' 
occurs  in  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the 
subject  of  divine  healing  for  the  body. 

In  Ex.  xv.  26,  where  God  gave  the  cov- 
enant of  healing  to  His  ancient  people,  the 
conditions  of  healing  are  to  hearken  dili- 
gently and  to  obey.  Also  in  Deut.  vii.  12, 
the  mercies  (including  healing;  see  verse 


HEARKENING   DILIGENTLY  143 

15)  which  follow  were  to  be  given  "if  ye 
hearken  to  these  judgments  and  keep  and 
do  them.'  In  Lev.  xxvi.  we  see  the  judg- 
ments pronounced  upon  those  who  fail  to 
hearken,  and  in  Deut.  xxviii.  we  have  a 
long  list  of  blessings  for  those  who  "heark- 
en diligently/  and  a  still  longer  list  of 
curses  (including  many  kinds  of  sickness) 
which  would  come  upon  those  who  failed  to 
hearken.  This  diligent  hearkening  implies 
far  more  than  the  heedless  attention  which 
a  careless  child  often  gives  its  mother,  and 
which  causes  many  a  mistake  and  the  er- 
rand to  be  done  unfaithfully.  It  implies 
that  closest,  all-absorbing  attention  which 
we  give  the  objects  of  our  dearest  love, 
when  to  know  and  obey  their  wishes  is  the 
sweetest  thing  to  our  hearts;  or  it  means 
the  intense  listening,  with  bated  breath,  for 
the  sound  of  a  well-known  and  expected 
footstep.  Oh,  that  we  might  thus  listen  for 
the  voice  of  our  beloved  Lord ;  that  our 
hearts  might  be  filled  with  love  that  His 
commands  should  no  longer  fall  upon  care- 


144  THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

less  and  inattentive  ears.     Not  merely  the 
hearkening  given  by  servants  to  their  mas- 
ters, but  the  loving  attitude  of  the  faithful 
and  devoted  bride  as  she  listens  to  every., 
accent  of  her  beloved  bridegroom. 

Silence  our  hearts,  0  Thou  blessed  Sa 
viour,  shut  out  all  the  other  voices  that  are 
in  the  world,  and  do  Thou  by  Thy  Spirit's 
power  gain  our  fixed  and  unwavering  at- 
tention. Then  shall  we  hear  Thee  always, 
and  always  do  the  things  that  please  Thee, 
and  we  shall  hear  Thy  sweet  voice  saying, 
"Hearken  diligently  unto  Me,  and  eat  ye 
that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  de- 
light itself  in  fatness.' 


PRAISE  AT  MIDNIGHT 

By  Carrie  Judd  Montgomery 

"And  at  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  and  sang 
praises  unto  God;  and  the  prisoners  heard  them.  And 
suddenly  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  so  that  the 
foundations  of  the  prison  were  shaken ;  and  immedi- 
ately all  the  doors  were  opened,  and  every  one's  bands 
were  loo'sed."  Acts  xvi:25,  26. 

The  darkness  still  is  deep'ning, 

O  tried  and  weary  heart, 
No  rift  of  morning  brightness 

Bids  midnight  gloom  depart; 
The  prison  walls  surround  thee, 

No  human  help  is  nigh, 
But  blest  is  the  assurance 

Thy  Saviour  reigns  on  high. 

When  shadowed  in  the  darkness, 

And  pressed  by  every  foe, 
Then  let  your  gladdest  carols 

And  sweetest  anthems  flow; 
The  praise  so  sweet  to  Jesus, 

The  ''sacrifice  of  praise," 
Is  when  no  earthly  sunshine 

Pours   forth   its   cheering   rays. 

'Tis  then  your  song  is  wafted 

All  human  heights  above, 
And  mingles  with  the  angels', 

In  realms  of  perfect  love; 
'Tis  then  the  God  of  glory 

Makes  Satan  fear  and  flee, 
And  sends  a  mighty  earthquake 

To  set  His  ransomed  free. 


THE   LIFE   OF   PRAISE 

'Tis  easy  when  the  morning 

Appears  at  last  to  view, 
To  praise  the  strong  Redeemer, 

Who  burst  the  bondage  through. 
But  'tis  the  praise  at  midnight 

That  gives  the  foe  alarm, 
That  glorifies  thy  Saviour, 

And  bares  His  strong  right  arm. 

A  conqueror  thou  wouldst  be? 

Yea,  move  than  conqueror  thou, 
Tf  thou  wilt  shout  in  triumph, 

And  claim  the  victory  now; 
The  prison  doors  will  open, 

The  dungeon  gleam  with  light, 
And  sin-chained  souls  around  thee 
see  Jehovah's  might. 


RETURN 
TO—*     202 


CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

\Aain  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 

HOME  USE 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1  -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405    " 

6-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  Desk 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


i     iv>G 

1    15 

IN  STACKS 

NOV     71900 

REC  CIR  WR  l  °  I 

11 

SENT  ON  ILL 

JUL  1  3  W 

J.  C.  BERKELEY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKE 
FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  3/80  BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


507458 


0 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


